The Mission Viejo Activity Committee recently awarded three, outstanding high school seniors with a $1,000 scholarship each. The scholarships are based on volunteerism in the community, academic achievements, leadership skills, school participation and ability to succeed.
According to Margot Ferron, Scholarship Chairperson, MVAC has awarded more than $50,000 in scholarships since 2001. MVAC is a group of volunteers who plan many events in Mission Viejo- “Up in the Air”, 4th of July Street Faire and Fireworks Spectacular and Santa's Village and Workshop. …..just to name a few.
The recipients of our 2013 scholarships are: Megan Kumar and Zack Pinto, Capistrano Valley High School and Emily Scharmann, Tesoro High School. Megan Kumar, Capistrano Valley High School, has volunteered at Mission Viejo Hospital for the last two and a half years.
At Capistrano Valley High School, Kumar is the president of Cougars for Character and the president of Club Namaste. She has been involved with Walk Against Drugs and works for Mad Science after school. In addition, to volunteering more than 400 hours in her community, she is a swimmer and a Black belt in Karate. Kumar will be attending Cal State Long Beach and plans to major in Nursing. Zack Pinto, Capistrano Valley High School, has volunteered over 750 hours in his community. He has been a volunteer with the Mission Viejo Student Advisory Committee for four years, Saddleback Church and New Lung, an anti-tobacco organization.
Pinto is instrumental in starting Move to the Beat of Your Heart, a dance group for children who have special needs and are differently challenged. This year at Capistrano Valley High School, he is the Publicity Commissioner for the Student government, Vice-President for Cougars for Character, Senior Representative for the California Scholarship Federation, Senior Representative for the National Honor Society, and a member of the Comedy Sports team. Pinto will be attending the University of Southern California and plans to major in Occupational Therapy and minor in Business. At USC he has received the Presidential Scholarship, the Cabrillo Club, (Portuguese) Scholarship and the President's Community Service Award. Emily Scharmann, Tesoro High School, has volunteered more than 300 hours in her community. One of her favorite organizations to work with is Protoypes. Prototypes helps women with behavioral health issues get better while still being able to care for their children.
Scharmann also enjoys volunteering at the Mission Viejo Library. At Tesoro High School, she is Captain on the Cross Country & Track team and played soccer. In addition, Scharmann plays bassoon in the Wind Ensemble for Tesoro High School that recently played at Carnegie Hall in New York City. She will be attending the University of California Los Angeles - majoring in Psychology with a minor in German. It is her goal to be a sports psychologist.
Anyone within the city of Mission Viejo or the surrounding area is welcome to join MVAC. There are no dues or fees. We welcome you to put your talents to work. The committee meets the second Tuesday of each month at 7:30 pm at the Norman Murray Community Center, 24932 Veterans Way, Mission Viejo, CA 92692. For more information regarding MVAC please call 949/830-7066 or go to the www.mvactivities.com.
