Lower Merion Conservancy

The Sandy Drayer Environmental Scholarship

The Lower Merion Conservancy, a preservation organzation for the Lower Merion and Narberth communities, offers the sixth annual Sandy Drayer Environmental Scholarship.

The scholarship is a one-time gift of $1,000 presented annually in the spring to one graduating high school senior, to be applied to the winner's college tuition and expenses.

The scholarship's deadline for application is Monday, May 3, 2010.

Download, print and mail the application: 2010 LMC Drayer Scholarship Application

The Drayer Scholarship
The Drayer Scholarship is offered to a graduating high school senior who intends to study at a two- or four-year college. While the student must be a resident of Lower Merion or Narberth, he or she can attend any public, private or parochial high school in the region. The scholarship will be awarded to a senior who completes the application form, has an active interest in the environment, and provides the 800-word essay explained in the application materials.

The essay revolves around environmental concerns and changes annually, selected by the Lower Merion Conservancy's scholarship committee. This year's essay is presented on the second page of the application form. The essay must be typed on clean white paper with the applicant's name clearly indicated, double-spaced in a 12-point font, and no more than 800 words in length. The essay must be written by the applicant and will be evaluated on original thougth, evidence or research, and writing skills. The scholarship committee will evaluate the applications based on a combination of quality of the essay and evidence of interest and involvement in the environment.

The essays entered for the scholarship become the property of the Lower Merion Conservancy and might be used in its publications.

All applicants will be notified of final decisions no later than two weeks after the deadline.

About the Lower Merion Conservancy
The Lower Merion Conservancy was founded in 1995 from the merger of two community organizations, the Lower Merion-Narberth Watershed Association and the Lower Merion Preservation Trust. The Conservancy, with offices in Gladwyne's Rolling Hill Park, protects and enhances the community's quality of life by engaging resident in preserving open space, natural resources, and the historic character of the community. Through education, advocacy and research, the Conservancy hopes to promote collective responsibility for these shared resources.

The Conservancy staff provides a wide variety of educational programs to the community, to students of all ages, preschool through high school, as well as adults and families. The group maintains a network of volunteers who adopt programming, plant trees, maintain gardens, and more.

About Sandy Drayer
In 1984, Sandy Drayer joined the Board of Directors of a fledgling community nonprofit, the Lower Merion-Narberth Watershed Association, starting as a volunteer and later serving as it executive director. Her service to the organization spanned two full decades of dedicated involvement.

Sandy played an instrumental role in establishing the first recycling program in Lower Merion. She became a tireless advocate for sensitive development and protection of open space, testifying innumerable times at local government agencies. She also spent thousands of hours in and around Mill Creek engaged in numerous improvement projects--monitoring the water's quality, protecting eroding stream bands, removing trash from the creek, planting trout eggs in the stream, reporting pollution events, and more. Since 1994, she has created and helped conduct an annual census of Mill Creek's insect life, as the numbers and kind of insects found in a stream provide poerful information about the quality of the water. In addition, Sandy has helped teach countless classes and field trips in the streams and forests of Lower Merion, educating thousands of friends and neighbors about the importance of streams, open space, and natural areas.

In 2004, Sandy retired form the organization's board after 20 years of service. To thank her for her dedication to the community, the Lower Merion Conservancy named its newly formed college scholarship in honor of the first lady of local streams, Sandy Drayer.

Updated: 4/20/2010 © 2010Lower Merion Conservancy. All rights reserved.

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