Education Partnership
2023 Scholarships Awarded
Thirteen scholarships were awarded to local high school students by Mount Vernon Springfield Chamber of Commerce to recognize outstanding achievement of 2023 graduating seniors planning to continue their study in a business-related field.
The 2023 Distinguished Business Scholars are Biana Blancaflor, Lake Braddock High School; Jackson Brown, Edison High School; Lauren Cremer, Bishop Ireton High School; Julia Hopper, West Potomac High School; John Hood, Mount Vernon High School; Jada-Ane Larkin, Hayfield Secondary School; William Michael Meares, Mount Vernon High School; Adam Peverill, Mount Vernon High School; John Shaffer, South County High School; Laura Ridgeway, Thomas Jefferson High School; Maxwell Riggs, Hayfield Secondary School; and Nicole Trejo, Lewis High School.
Brigadier General Retired Robert Jorgensen, president of the Army Retirement Residence Foundation – Potomac at The Fairfax Retirement Community spoke to the awardees about his education and career encouraging them to “never give up.”
Scholarships are made possible by the generous donations of local businesses. Businesses that provided complete scholarships are Covanta Fairfax Inc., CDI Inc, Rubrik, Cisco Mount Vernon Knights of Columbus and Ourisman Automotive dealerships.
CDI
2023
Jada-Ane Larkin
Hayfield Secondary School
Cisco
2023
William Michael Meares
West Potomac High School
Ourisman
2023
Andrew Peverill
Mount Vernon High School
Business Scholar
2023
Jackson Brown
Edison High School
Business Scholar
2023
Bianca Blancaflor
Lake Braddock High School
Business Scholar
2023
Steven Liu
Annandale High School
Contribute to the Education Partnership
A strong commitment to education has led to the creation in 2005 of the Mount Vernon Springfield Education Partnership, a 501(c)3 organization, to provide scholarships for local graduating high school students pursuing further education in a business related field.
Since 1998, the Mount Vernon Springfield Chamber of Commerce has provided scholarships worth almost $300,000 to local high school students. In 2023, thirteen scholarships with a total value of $26,000 were awarded.
You are invited to be part of this effort to prepare future business and community leaders by contributing to the Chamber’s scholarship fund. Any contribution is greatly appreciated and special benefits are given to the contributions listed below. All money goes directly to scholarships with no overhead.
A “Summa Cum Laude” $2,000 investment provides these benefits:
- A scholarship named after your business awarded to a local high school senior.
- A listing on the Chamber’s Education Honor Roll published in local newspapers and on Chamber social media.
- Your business logo with hotlink to your website on the Education Partnership website.
- Reserved admissions and recognition at Scholarship Awards.
A “Magna Cum Laude” $1,000 investment provides these benefits:
- A listing on the Chamber’s Education Honor Roll published in local newspapers and on Chamber social media.
- Your business logo with hotlink to your website on the Education Partnership webpage.
- Reserved admissions and recognition at Scholarship Awards.
A “Cum Laude” $500 investment provides these benefits:
- A listing on the Chamber’s Education Honor Roll published in local newspapers and on Chamber social media.
- Your business logo with hotlink to your website on the Education Partnership webpage.
- Reserved admissions and recognition at Scholarship Awards.
Education Partnership Board of Directors
Chairman Scott Stroh III, Historic Gunston Hall
Michael Bennett, Ourisman
Don Cammarata, Covanta Fairfax Inc.
Travis Clarke, Burke & Herbert Bank
Holly Dougherty, Mount Vernon Springfield Chamber of Commerce
George Ksenics, Andrews FCU
Alex Thalacker, Fairfax County EDA
Eric Christensen, Springfield Town Center
Michael Murphy, Mount Vernon Knights of Columbus
Eugenia Wiliford, Edison High School Academy