Scholarships
Scholarship Committee member Molly Ball presents Sophia with her scholarship award.
Scholarship Committee member Barbara Sayres recounts Anna's accomplishments to the Recpetion audience.
Carina listens modestly as her high school achievements are shared with guests.
Marylou Motto, co-chair of the Scholarship Committee, presents Samantha with her scholarship
Ellie Redington, co-chair of the Scholarship Committee, congratulates Emma
Committee Member Susan Abely presents Ishita with her award
Each year, the Summit College Club awards financial scholarships to young women from the surrounding area in New Jersey who have been selected for their academic record and leadership qualities. The number of scholarships awarded, and the amount of each award, may vary from year to year. Since its inception, Summit College Club has awarded roughly $1 million in scholarship money, helping hundreds of young women attend the college of their choice.
​
Eligibility
Scholarships may be awarded to residents of Summit, Berkeley Heights, Chatham, Millburn, New Providence and Springfield, New Jersey. Applicants should be in their senior year. Also eligible are daughters of individuals who have been Summit College Club members for three or more years.
​
Application Process
Members of the Scholarship Committee work closely with the Guidance Offices of high schools in the towns listed above. The Guidance Offices coordinate the application process, ensuring that eligible young women in their schools are aware of the opportunity and checking that all applications are complete before they are submitted to the Scholarship Committee. Typically, applications are due around March 1. The application consists of: applicant information, including an academic and extra-curricular resume; academic transcript; written recommendations from (1) the applicant’s guidance counselor and (2) a teacher or other academic reference; and a written essay that addresses a question posed by the Committee.
​
The Scholarship Committee reviews all of the applications and, from the pool of applicants, selects those applicants who will be offered interviews. From this smaller pool, the final recipients are chosen. Awards are usually made in June. The scholarship is paid directly to each recipient in the form of a check.
​
Available Scholarships
The Tilla Thomas Scholarship, awarded each year from the Tilla Thomas Bequest, is given to a woman student who has achieved academic excellence and demonstrated leadership potential at Summit High School.
The Mary Tennant Scholarship, awarded each year from the Mary Tennant Bequest, is given to a woman student who has achieved academic excellence and demonstrated leadership potential.
The Kathi C. Madison M.D. Scholarship, awarded each year from the Caroline Madison Endowment, is given to a woman student who plans to pursue a career in science.
​
The Summit College Club Foundation Scholarships are awarded to one or more women students who have achieved academic excellence and demonstrated leadership potential.
​
How to Apply
Please contact your high school guidance counselor if you are interested in applying for a Summit College Club Scholarship. The process typically begins in late January.
Introducing the 2025 Summit College Club Scholarship Recipients​​​
This year’s scholarship recipients all have stellar academic records. But that’s just the starting point of their achievements. As a group, these young women have mastered second (or third) languages, conducted scientific research at the university level, founded nonprofits, captained winning sports teams, volunteered with local, national, and international organizations, and exercised leadership in school clubs, committees, and extracurricular activities. They exemplify intellectual curiosity and rigor, drive and resourcefulness, compassion and collaboration, and resilience. They’ve used personal challenges as a springboard for growth, achievement, and giving back. Both literally and figuratively, these young women have climbed mountains. We are proud to honor them with scholarships and look forward to following their contributions in the years ahead.
​
​
Sophia Erickson is the 2025 recipient of the Summit Business and Professional Women’s Scholarship, awarded for the first time through the Summit College Club Foundation. This scholarship is given to a senior student who has shown promise in business. At Governor Livingston High School, Sophia has served as president of her class for two years and as student body president for one. As a member of the National Honor Society, she is also an outstanding student.. Sophia is a member of the varsity soccer and basketball teams and is a member of the Athletic Honor Society. When it comes to demonstrating “promise in business,” Sophia excels at fundraising. As class president, she directed fundraising activities that generated $10,000 for her senior class. For the last four years, Sophia has captained a team in the Berkeley Heights Relay for Life, where, each year, they have raised more than $4,000 for the American Cancer Society. Sophia is also a member of the Future Business Leaders of America. Her performance in their marketing competition earned her a place at the organization’s state conference in Atlantic City last year. In addition to her academic, athletic, and extracurricular accomplishments, she has held paid positions for up to thirty hours each week since entering high school. Sophia plans to attend Florida State University in the fall.
​
Moira Joel, a senior at Oak Knoll School of the Holy Child, is one of three recipients of a 2025 Summit College Club Foundation Scholarship, awarded to a high school senior young woman who has demonstrated academic excellence and leadership potential. Despite the challenges posed by dyslexia, Moira fearlessly took on a wide variety of challenging Honors and AP courses, maintaining an outstanding GPA. She consistently held leadership positions on key school committees and the Core Council, the main governing board of Oak Knoll. She was also a Student Ambassador for Oak Knoll admissions and an Eucharistic Minister. As an essential member of Oak Knoll’s NJ State champion field hockey team, as well as a player for the National champion New Heights Field Hockey Club team, Moira is an outstanding athlete. She is also President of the Squash Club at Oak Knoll. In the broader community, Moira has been deeply involved with the Brain Train Learning Center in Summit. In elementary school, Brain Train helped her develop the learning and processing skills she needed to help her overcome dyslexia. By high school, Moira was giving back to Brain Train as a tutor. Moira will attend the University of Texas at Austin in the fall to pursue her interests in neuroscience and psychology.
Anna Kramarchuk was awarded the Mary K. Tennant Scholarship, which recognizes academic excellence and leadership potential. During her four years at Governor Livingston High School, she achieved membership in the National Honor Society
as well as the Science, Art, Math, and Spanish Honor Societies. She has been a
member of her school’s Science Olympiad team and the TSA Engineering TEAMS
Competition. An excellent athlete, Anna served as captain of the varsity track team, the varsity volleyball team, and the Central Jersey Volleyball Academy. She received her high school’s Heart of the Highlander Athletic Award, which recognizes leadership and good sportsmanship. As President of the Governor Livingston Environmental Club, she spearheaded efforts to install solar panels and energy-efficient lighting at the school. She was active in the Women in STEM Club, the Robotics Club, and was President of the GL Eastern European Cultures Club. Anna attended the New Jersey Institute of Technology High School Summer Institute (NJIT), where she helped evaluate the geo-mechanical properties of rocks relating to carbon emissions and climate change, and completed a course on the Fundamentals of Engineering and Design. Proud of her Ukrainian heritage, Anna served as a troop leader for the Plast Ukrainian Scouting Organization and attended the Ridna Shkola Ukrainian Saturday School, where she achieved fluency in the Ukrainian language and gained a deeper understanding of her Ukrainian roots. Anna will attend Amherst College in the fall.
Carina Pang, a senior at New Providence High School, has maintained an excellent academic record that extends beyond Advanced Placement (AP) and Honors classes. When she was unable to test into higher math classes, Carina took it upon herself to pursue advanced math instruction, eventually earning the highest grade on the school’s Honors PreCalculus exams, without having officially taken the course. This accelerated pace enabled her to learn multivariable calculus as a senior—a subject critical to her interest in mathematics and engineering. As a leader outside of the classroom, Carina served as President of the National Honor Society, co-founded the New Providence High School math team, was a member of the Technology Student Association, and participated in the STEM Club. Carina, an athletic leader, was co-captain of the varsity swim team. Outside of school, Carina was selected as one of sixty students to attend the New Jersey Governor's School of Engineering and Technology, where she successfully published her first technical article. On her own initiative, she became a research intern for a professor in the Department of Industrial Systems and Engineering at Rutgers. Her incredible initiative and intellectual drive will serve Carina well at Duke University this fall, where she plans to study mechanical engineering. Carina was awarded a Summit College Club Foundation Scholarship.
Samantha Rose, a senior at Millburn High School, was awarded the Kathi C. Madison Scholarship, which is presented annually to a student planning to pursue a career in the field of science or medicine. Throughout her high school career, Samantha received numerous awards, including the West Point Eisenhower Leadership Award and the University of Pennsylvania Book Award. Samantha is also a National Merit finalist and an AP Scholar of Distinction. A writer of note, she has written for and edited journals in both English and Spanish, a language in which she has achieved fluency, as well as being the editor of her high school yearbook. But her singular passion is research and advocacy for rare neurodegenerative diseases, particularly CRPS, an incurable neurological dystrophy, with which a close family member was diagnosed when Samantha was very young. Samantha has researched policy and advocated for science-driven legislation and funding in Congress, and has spoken for more than 900 hours to outside groups about these rare diseases. As an advocate for those facing CRPS, she has led several fundraising events and was awarded the 2023 Teen RareVoice Award, given to just one young person nationwide. As an intern at NYU’s Grossman School of Medicine, Samantha researched gender as a social determinant of health and the challenges that women and other marginalized groups face as patients in a medical environment. She has also written a journal article about bioethics in pediatric gene therapy, which was published this year. Currently, Samantha is collaborating with a professor from the University of Pennsylvania on a medical journal article about Huntington’s disease. She will be attending Duke University in the fall.
Emma Vachal was awarded the Tilla Thomas Scholarship, named for the Summit High School French teacher who founded the Summit College Club. Emma, who will graduate from Summit High this year, is a National Merit Commended Scholar, an AP scholar with honors, and has received awards in graphic arts and architecture. She has the seal of biliteracy in Spanish and Czech, and is very proud of her Czech heritage. Emma is president of the SHS orchestra and principal of the cello section. She has performed at Carnegie Hall, NJPAC, Disney World, and other venues. She is also president of the “Bach to Basics” Club, which organizes musical performances and games for elementary school students. Emma is currently the secretary of the Speech and Debate Club, which won first place at the Harvard National tournament, among many other competitions, in the Informative Speaking event. Outside of Summit High School, Emma, an accomplished illustrator, interned at an architectural firm and the NYU Department of Chemistry. Athletically, Emma is captain of the varsity swim team. She is also an enthusiastic skier and hiker, and is most proud of summiting Mt. Kilimanjaro. Emma is looking forward to attending Brown University in the fall.
​
Ishita Yadav, as a senior at Chatham High School and a recipient of a Summit College Club Foundation Scholarship, has already completed courses at Stanford University and Yale. Among her many honors, Ishita has earned a Congressional Bronze Award, a Princeton Book Award, and is a National Merit Scholarship semi-finalist and an AP Scholar with Distinction. In school, Ishita was a member of the UNICEF Club, the Academic Team, and the Chinese Club. She has been a Kumar Lab intern and research assistant at the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), where she has utilized microscopy techniques to contribute to muscle regeneration research at NJIT and assisted with research on the synthesis of peptides to promote blood vessel growth. Her standout volunteer work includes founding and creating ChathamHER, a nonprofit organization addressing period poverty and its connection to mental health. She collaborated with the International Rescue Committee to collect and distribute products to migrant women and children in underserved communities. Ishita will be attending the University of Michigan in the fall.
​​​
Congratulations to these outstanding young women. Summit College Club is proud to support your continuing education, and we look forward to seeing your accomplishments and leadership continue to blossom in the future.
