Scholarships

McHenry Garden Club Awards Scholarships

Scholarship Information and Requirements

A significant mission of the McHenry Garden Club is to provide scholarships for high school graduating seniors and/or continuing education students to pursue their higher education.  We have at least 3,000 dollars or more in scholarships to award. This mission is supported by fundraising efforts, specifically proceeds from our annual spring “Container Garden Gala” and winter “Holiday Floral Show.”

Primary consideration will be given to applicants pursuing study in one of the following areas of study:

Landscape Design              Agronomy                       Conservation

Horticulture                            Botany                        Land Management

Agriculture                             Forestry                      Environmental Studies

Ecology                                  Floriculture                Nursery Management

The scholarship funds must be applied to tuition, fees and course materials for the semester awarded. Funds will be dispersed to the college or university upon completion of the semester, and registration for the next semester.

To be considered, applicants must reside in McHenry County and have graduated or enrolled in their final year of high school. A complete scholarship application will include the following items:

  1. A completed scholarship application. Application must be typed, not handwritten (a fillable PDF or word document)

For pdf, click on this MGC 2026 Scholarship application;  MGC 2026 Scholarship Application

For Word document, click on this MGC 2026 Scholarship Application:  MGC-2026-Scholarship-Application

  1. A copy of an acceptance letter from the selected school of choice
  2. A copy of your non-official transcript reflecting at least a GPA of 3.0
  3. Two (2) letters of recommendations from a teacher, counselor or school administrator which should document the following: (NA for adult continuing education students)
    1. In what capacity (or timeframe) the author has known the applicant
    2. Provide information or examples of how the applicant has demonstrated their interest in the designated field of study.

Please submit the above items to Judwalter@comcast.net

2026 Deadline for consideration: Tuesday, April 7th, 2026 by 1159 pm

 

Previous Winners

2026:  The McHenry Garden Club awarded scholarships to two students in 2026, totaling $5,000.

Mason Mai, a senior from McHenry West High School, received $2,000 and will attend Montana State University.  He will be studying Conservation and Environmental Research.

Amyrah Sky Marica a senior from Crystal Lake Central High School, received $3,000 and will attend Northern Michigan University, Marquette, MI.  Her major will be Environmental Studies and Sustainability.

Also this year, the McHenry Garden Club awarded $1,000 to the McHenry County Conservation Foundation.  This donation will support the Foundation’s financial assistance program for children’s summer camp at the McHenry County Conservation District locations.

Mason Mai receiving scholarship from members Kathleen Fitzgerald and Diane Boedecker

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2025:  The McHenry Garden Club awarded scholarships to three students in 2025, totaling $5,000.

Alexander Hochman received $2,000 and will attend the University of Wisconsin, Madison

Rebecca Rocks received $1,500 and will attend Iowa State University

Isabella Rocks received $1,500 and will attend the University of Southern California

                                                                            

 

2020 – McHenry East High School senior Taylor Stebbins was a 2020 recipient of a $1000 scholarship from the McHenry Garden Club.  Taylor will be attending Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan.  She will be majoring in Environmental Sustainability with a minor in Business Strategy.

 

 

 

 

 

2020 – The McHenry Garden Club awarded a $2000 scholarship to McHenry East High School senior Jake Letmanski.  Jake will be attending Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa, and will be studying both Agronomy and Horticulture.  He plans a future career in plant breeding, either new varieties of crops or ornamental plants.

 

 

 

2018 – The McHenry Garden Club has awarded a $2000 scholarship to Katelynn McManus, who is a rising college senior and is currently studying Geography and International Relations with a minor in Sustainability at the University of Denver.  Katelynn is a graduate of McHenry East High School.  She recently spent a quarter studying and working in Bolivia.  Her future plans include getting a PHD in Political Ecology so that she ca do research that will aid developing countries in providing sustainable resources such as food and water.

 

2017 – Two McHenry seniors were awarded scholarships totaling $3,000.00.  Marjean Cone, a McHenry High School West Campus graduate will receive $1,000.00 toward her study of geology at the University of Illinois, with a future interest in paleontology.  Collin Kwasigrogh, a Marion Central graduate will receive $2,000.00 toward his study of environmental engineering at Marquette University.  We are proud of these inspiring graduates who are deeply concerned about the health and preservation of our environment.

 

2016 – Our scholarships were awarded to the following from left to right.  A $500 winner is Brooke Weltch from McHenry West High School.  She will attend Carthage College in Kenosha, WI.  She plans to major in Classical Archeology with emphasis on ancient civilizations and their impact on the environment.  Our $1500 winner is Ivan DeJesus from McHenry East High School who will attend Appalachian State University in Boone, NC.  His major course of study will be Environmental Sciences.  Another $500 winner is Morgan Rudd from McHenry East High School.  Morgan will attend McHenry County College in Crystal Lake, IL.  Her major will be in the area of Horticulture and Landscape Design.  We are extremely proud of all of our winners!

2015 – McHenry High School East Campus Graduate, Katelynn McManus, majoring in Environmental Studies, at the University if Denver; and McHenry High School West Campus Graduate, Megan Hart, majoring in Environmental Studies, at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville.  This year’s winners were each awarded $1,000.00 scholarships.

 

 

2014 – McHenry High School East Campus Graduate, Ovidio Jasso, majoring in Horticulture, Landscape Architecture, and Landscape Design at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale; and McHenry High School West Campus graduate, Bridget Kiernan majoring in Health & Sciences in the field of Environmental Studies of Human interaction within the Natural environment at DePaul University.

 

 

2013 – Amy M. Kruse, a graduate of West Campus, will be attending Kansas State University and her $2,000 award will go towards her major in Agricultural Economics. Clayton G.W. Cooper, graduate of East Campus, will be attending Mississippi State University and his $1,000 award will go towards his major in Forestry and Wildlife Management. It was an honor to present this award to these wonderful and inspiring graduates.

 

 

2012 – James Catarello, graduate of Marian Central, was awarded a $1500 scholarship to the University of Iowa towards his degree in Environmental Engineering. Sierra Semel, graduate of McHenry West, was awarded a $500 scholarship to Southern Illinois University, Carbondale towards her major in Zoology and conservation. Sarah R. Andersen, graduate of McHenry East, was awarded $1,000 scholarship to Cornerstone University, Grand Rapids, MI, towards her major in the Art of Ministry to study Urban Ministry. Mitchell Noworolnik, graduate of McHenry East, was awarded a $1500.00 Scholarship to the University of Montana, Missoula, towards his major in Forestry.

 

2011 – Samantha Anderson, from McHenry High School West Campus, will be studying the field of Bio Chemistry in Plant Study at the DePauw University located in Greencastle Indiana.

2010 – Amy McReynolds is a McHenry High School West Campus Graduate, Amy E. McReynolds, daughter of Scott and Mary McReynolds, is the McHenry Garden Club’s 2010 Scholarship recipient. Amy will be attending Southern Illinois University at Carbondale where she will be attending the College of Horticulture to major in Plant and Soil Science.

2009 – Dan Cross is a May 2009 Graduate of McHenry West HS attending McHenry County College. He enjoys wresting and football and has been active in Business Professionals of America, the talent show, pep rallies and Youth Commission/PADS. Dan’s family is part of the horticulture community. His mother is a landscape designer working as a wholesale plant manager at a local nursery. His brother works at another nursery. Dan states that his family has always been interested in plants. Dan plans to take more courses to decide his area of interest and says “I enjoy giving back to my community”.

2009 – Angelia Goblin, a 2009 McHenry West Campus graduate, intends to major in Environmental Science and is currently attending MCC. Her future plans are to attend the University of California, Berkeley. Her strong passion is in preserving and cleaning the worlds ecosystems in order to provide safe and beautiful places for humans and animals to live in. Besides being active in the school’s Environmental Club she was active in other student and community activities.

2008 – Meagan Grahm, daughter of Frank and Maureen Grahm, was the 2008 recipient of the McHenry Garden Clubs $500 scholarship. Megan, a graduate of McHenry High School West Campus won the award for her excellent grades and volunteer work in the community. She plans to attend Western Illinois University.