2017 Scholarship Recipients Named

Lauren Brown, Elizabeth Kerns, Cassidy Thornton and Jake Wolf Named 2017 Tigard Chamber Scholarship Recipients
The Tigard Chamber of Commerce (TCC) is pleased to announce the 2017 recipients of the Tigard Shining Stars Scholarship Award.  Each recipient will receive a $1,000 scholarship made possible by a generous donation from Pride Disposal and this year TRIMET and roughly 80 businesses who are members of the Tigard Chamber of Commerce.  Applicants were judged based on career plans, extracurricular and/or work activities, scholastic achievement and letters of recommendation.  Please join us in congratulating the following students for earning this highly competitive scholarship:

Lauren Brown, Tigard High School
Elizabeth Kerns, Tigard High School
Cassidy Thornton, Tigard High School
Jake Wolf, Tigard High School

Lauren Brown has been actively involved in Tigard High student government for the last four years and is currently the Student Body President.  Her other activities and clubs have included National Honor Society, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Science National Honor Society, Freshmen orientation, Co-Founder of Random Acts of Kindness and a dancer with Fired Up Dance Academy.  In her high school career, she has completed over 1,000 hours of community service across more than a dozen organizations or activities. 

While doing all of these activities, Lauren has maintained a 4.0/4.3 weighted GPA.  In the words of one of her teachers, “Lauren is the most ethical and accomplished student I have had in my 8 years of teaching.  This should suit Lauren well as she plans to major in Finance and Management with a minor in statistics at either U of O or OSU Honors College and pursue a career as a CFO. 

Elizabeth Kerns fills her spare time outside of class with varsity swimming, varsity water polo, varsity choir and French Club.  In addition, she works as a lifeguard/swim instructor at the Tigard-Tualatin Aquatic District as well as baby sitting and as a ranch hand on the family ranch.  Elizabeth’s scholastic pursuits have included French for all 4 years, numerous IB or college level classes since her junior year and many choir classes including Choralation, Tigard High’s premiere vocal ensemble.  In the words of one of her teachers, “One of Elizabeth’s most impressive qualities is her enthusiasm for learning.”  While managing choir, sports, French club and work along with her school, Elizabeth has maintained a 4.0 GPA.

Elizabeth grew up in a family of hard working, independently minded small business owners and that surrounding in her words, influenced who she is today.  Elizabeth plans to get her degree in technical writing and politics with a goal to become an asset to either a business or a non-profit and help them communicate effectively to their audience.  Elizabeth wants to improve the world around her.  She plans to attend George Fox University as part of the William Pen Honors Program and major in English and politics.

Cassidy Thornton has been involved in a variety of activities and clubs including National Honor Society, Science National Honor Society, Outdoor/Environmental Club, Future Business Leaders of America, Tigard Link Leader and Young Life just to name a few.  In addition Cassidy currently works at Jamba Juice and has volunteered with both the TTSD Caring Closet and Potluck in the Park.  While managing work, clubs, activities and volunteer roles, Cassidy has maintained a 4.0/4.3 weighted GPA through her high school career and will receive an IB diploma. 

Cassidy’s career choice has been influenced by watching her dad launch his own consulting firm in 2008 to help companies with energy efficiency.  Seeing her dad work to make the world better has encouraged Cassidy to pursue a double degree in Business Administration and Sustainability at Western Washington University with a goal of helping industry learn sustainable approaches to business.

Jake Wolf is part of the ASB leadership team, a member of both the National and Science Honor Societies, Key club and a two-sport athlete with cross country and track.  His jobs and volunteer work have included NW Outdoor Science School counselor and ZooTeen Volunteer.  In addition, Jake is one of the founders of an organization called Future Innovators Experience (FIE).  FIE’s goals are to teach youth about business and how to be an entrepreneur at a young age.  To prove FIE could work, Jake and other founders created a water bottle company called Metsi that differentiates itself by adding a fruit infusing spike to the bottle.  The first shipment is due soon!

While doing all this Jake has taken a heavy load of IB and Advanced Leadership classes and has achieved a 3.93 GPA.  He plans to pursue his Bachelor’s degree in Business at one of several schools that he has been accepted to including U of O, OSU and Gonzaga.

Congratulations again to all four of our recipients.  These scholarships will be formally presented with other Tigard volunteer and business awards at Tigard’s 2017 Shining Stars Community Awards Celebration, sponsored by Title Sponsors HomeStreet Bank (King City/Tigard Branch) and Center Street Gold & Silver.  The event will be held on Friday, April 28th from 5:30-9 p.m. at Embassy Suites – Washington Square, our event location host.  With a theme of “Roaring 20’s”, this elegant themed dinner event includes dinner, silent auction, dessert dash, awards, and more. Tickets are $55/person.  Dress your best and join us to celebrate Tigard!

For further details about Shining Stars, please contact the Tigard Chamber of Commerce at 503-639-1656 or at events@tigardchamber.org, or go to our webpage at www.tigardchamber.org.