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Open Choice Students Receive Mary Carroll-Kennedy Scholarship


(Hartford, CT) Two students from the Hartford Region Open Choice Program are heading to college with the help of the Mary Carroll-Kennedy Scholarship.


Imani Vaught and Stacy-Ann Wallen, both of Hartford, have participated in the Open Choice Program for several years and were recently named recipients of the program’s annual scholarship, which was established in 2002 in honor of Mary Carroll-Kennedy, the Open Choice Program’s founding director.


Formerly known as Project Concern, the Open Choice Program has helped Greater Hartford students for nearly five decades. It allows Hartford students the opportunity to attend public schools in suburban towns and suburban students the opportunity to attend public schools in Hartford. The goals are to improve academic achievement; reduce racial, ethnic, and economic isolation; and provide all children with a choice of high-quality educational programs.


Through the Open Choice Program, Vaught was able to attend Avon Public Schools and graduated from Avon High School on June 16. In the fall, she will be a freshman at UConn, where she will study veterinary sciences with an equestrian concentration. Her $2,000 scholarship will help pay for her education.


Wallen, who attended West Hartford Public Schools and graduated June 15 from Hall High School, will study biology or allied health at UConn. She wants to become a neonatal nurse, and her $3,000 scholarship will help her as she pursues her dream.


Both scholarship winners were actively involved in extracurricular activities at their respective high schools and communities, while also exploring their individual interests.


Vaught learned more about animals by volunteering and taking horseback riding lessons at Ebony Horsewomen Inc., a stable in Hartford. She also volunteered at the Animal Veterinary General Hospital in Avon. With an interest in dance, Wallen attended the CREC Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts as a half-day student, and she explored her interest in health by participating in the Aetna Health Professions Partnership Initiative.


Since 2002, 36 Open Choice students have benefited from the Mary Carroll-Kennedy Scholarship.



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