Ferndale Teen Creates Youth Birding Opportunities, Earns Scholarship
(Mark H. Stowers, June 21, 2021)
As gardeners, they understood that by planting and tending, there would be a time to reap. For graduating Ferndale High School students, the Ferndale Garden Club has been sowing scholarships since 1998. The club itself began in 1931. The initial scholarship was funded when members “passed the hat” at a meeting. Since then, their efforts have grown.
“This year’s Ferndale Garden Club Scholarship winner is Ferndale High School senior Jessica Decker,” Ferndale Garden Club President, Dominic Scappaticci, said in an email. “The senior has maintained a grade point average above 4.0 with classes that have included honors and Advanced Placement classes. But it was her ‘motivation to create environmental educations opportunities’ for the community that made her applications stand out among others.”
Decker’s work included creating a youth birding program with the Detroit and Michigan Audubon Societies. The program offers both in-person and virtual birding opportunities. She also volunteers with local wildlife groups and serves on the Michigan Department of Natural Resources Youth Conservation Council.
The Ferndale High School grad plans to put her scholarship to use at Michigan Technical University this fall as she’ll be studying Wildlife Ecology and Conservation.
Learn more about the Ferndale Garden Club in this previous story, or on their Facebook page.