The Closet of the greater Herndon area named its scholarship recipients from the June 2006 high school graduating class. Scholarship awards totaling $20,000 will be distributed in the fall to the following 20 students from five area high schools who have distinguished themselves within the community:
* Oakton High School: Rebekah Berlin, Kristin Byers, Rebecca Roberts and Megan Sayyad.
* Mountain View High School: Ronnie Angulo, Yuri Alexander Campos, Glenda Robles-Guerrero and Nancy Zurita.
* Herndon High School: Cassandra Cormier, Fernando Fernandez Kukurelo, Sana Iftikhar and Kala Smith.
* South Lakes High School: Long Bao Dang, Richard Tekpertey, Ali Shafkat and Fawadulhaq Gillani.
* Park View High School: Christina Dang, Wendy Echeverria, Courtney Gaines and Ashley McCallum.
The Closet is a nonprofit thrift shop in Herndon run by a consortium of faith communities.
A poem by Elizabeth Miller, 7, of Vienna, was selected for publication in Spider magazine. In May, readers were asked to submit a poem about a special place. Elizabeth's poem, "Tree House," appears on the Spider's Corner page of the August issue.
Tauheeda Yasin, a 2000 graduate of Marshall High School and 2004 graduate of Sarah Lawrence College, has recently been awarded an Islamic Civilization Grant from the Fulbright program. Fulbright grants, sponsored by the U.S. State Department, offer opportunities for students and professionals to undertake international graduate study, advanced research, university teaching, and teaching in elementary and secondary schools worldwide. Upon returning from her travels under the grant, Yasin will be traveling throughout the Northern Virginia area and New York to talk about her research and possibly to present the photo essay she will be completing on Muslim women's fashion in Turkey.
Erin Clark from Vienna has been selected as a Wells Scholar at Indiana University. She is one of 19 entering freshmen to receive the honor. A National Merit Scholar and an AP Scholar with Distinction, Clark is the first Wells Scholar from Fairfax High School, where she graduated as valedictorian. She was honored as a Lacrosse Academic All-American and received the Harold Stalnaker Award for athletics, academics and community service. She was co-captain of her school's varsity lacrosse and tennis teams and was recognized with Fairfax County's Women in Sports award. Clark was a member of National Honor Society; French Honor and Rotary Interact Club. A recipient of the Virginia House of Delegates commendation for contributions to the community, she organized her school's Toys for Tots drive for three years and participated in Kids Enjoy Exercise Now, a program in which high school athletes play tennis with autistic children. In addition, she participated in Christmas in April and volunteered with the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. She plans to explore a variety of fields before selecting a major. Wells Scholars receive full tuition and course-related fees, as well as a living stipend for four years of undergraduate study on the Bloomington campus of Indiana University.