Scholarship
The Bedford Garden Club offers annual scholarships to residents of Bedford and Hanscom Air Force Base who are current year graduates of Bedford High School, Shawsheen Valley Regional Vocational Technical School, other secondary schools, or are home-schooled or complete GED requirements.
Scholarships are awarded to students who plan to study such fields as agriculture, horticulture, floriculture, landscape design, climatology, conservation, forestry, ecology, environmental science or engineering, natural history, botany, biology, land management or related areas.
The Bedford Garden Club Judith R. Brown Memorial Scholarship was established in 2020 and endowed by Nathaniel Brown to honor his late wife’s commitment to education, the gardening world, and our Club.
Applications for scholarships will be processed and reviewed under the auspices of CSF of Bedford Dollars for Scholars where applications are available.
Applications are accepted between March 1 – March 20 and will be presented in May at the annual CSF Dollars for Scholars ceremony.
2023 Recipients
Rachel Gould
The first 2023 recipient of a $1,000 Bedford Garden Club Scholarship was awarded to Rachel Gould, a graduate of Bedford High where she received was a 2023 National Merit Scholarship Commended Scholar and was the Dance Captain in the Teen Production of Chiago. Rachel has always had an interest in meteorology; took a summer course in meteorology at Penn State University and became certified as a NWS Weather Spotter. Rachel participated in a project at her temple to collect used clothing and household goods to donate to organizations that provide necessities to people in need, thus avoiding contributing to the trash crisis. Rachel will be majoring in meteorology and environmental science at Emory University. Her interest is climate change, and she hopes to work for the National Weather Service after college.
Gitalia Dogan-West
The second 2023 recipient of a $1,000 Bedford Garden Club Scholarship was awarded to Gitalia Dogan-West, a home-schooled graduate of Bedford High, Gitalia will attend the University of Vermont and major in agroecology and landscape design, with plans to earn a doctorate in ecology. Her interest in the ecology of plants developed when she participated in an herbal medicine maker’s apprenticeship and learned about medicinal herbs, plant identification, and uses for wild and native plants.
James Marino
The 2023 recipient of the $1,000 Bedford Garden Club Judith R. Brown Memorial Scholarship was awarded to James Marino. James participated in a Mass Audubon environmental leadership program; did an internship with Chelsea and East Boston Heat Study collecting data on urban heat that is now being used to plan heat mitigation strategies. James also worked on the Davis School gardens. He will attend the University of Vermont’s 5-year combined Bachelor’s and Master’s program, majoring in environmental science and economics with a concentration on the economic impact of conservation projects.
Garden Club Federation of Massachusetts Scholarships
The Garden Club Federation of Massachusetts (GCFM) – the statewide organization of garden clubs of which the Bedford Garden Club is a member — also offers 11 scholarships of $1,000 each. Two national scholarships of $2,000 each are also available through the National Garden Club; all students applying for the state scholarships will be considered for the national awards as well.
The GCFM and National Garden Club scholarship applications are due March 1st. The GCFM scholarships are available to students majoring in horticulture, floriculture, landscape design or architecture, conservation, forestry, agronomy, city planning, environmental students, land management, botany, biology and allied subjects. Awards are available to both undergraduate and graduate students.
Applications, financial aid forms and additional information for the GCFM and National Garden Club scholarships are available on the Garden Club Federation of Massachusetts website.