2005 Scholarship Recipients
Nella B. Oppenborn Memorial Scholarship
Kelly Lynn Tetrault is a nutrition assistant and restaurant supervisor who designed and initiated an after school nutrition club for students interested in peer education and health promotion. In college, Kelly was required to research a local town and conduct a problem analysis to determine the biggest health concern facing that town. She has since designed a program and curriculum for nutrition and obesity prevention that is currently being used in that town’s local school system.
Kelly stays active in her community by offering nutrition booths at health fairs, guest lecturing, student teaching and offering physical education as a part of a community service learning project. Kelly’s motto is “Education is something no one can steal or take away from you. Once it’s in you and part of you, it always will be.” One of her favorite quotes is “You don’t need eyes to see, all you need is a vision.”
Sarah Shelton Memorial Scholarship
Baiza Rasheedah Muhammad is a holistic health consultant, the originator of Newlife Herbs, Oils & Spices, and the founder/director of the Community Curbside Peace School in Atlanta, Georgia. The school is open to girls, boys, men and women, ages 6 through 65. The goal is to “take positive actions toward building and maintaining peace in a world too often preoccupied with violence. To carry out principles that facilitate the learning of greater family and social lifestyle skills; becoming economically enriched and understanding financial empowerment; returning love, life, health and wealth to the community, society, and nation.”
When Baiza speaks of her work, she speaks of her commitments and dedication. Baiza draws from two lessons in life: one, “humans have an intimate relationship and innate connection with nature—our body, with the help of our natural environment, has the capacity to heal itself”; and two, “there are universal laws that warrant respect and our humble response to the amazing ways these laws work on our behalf.” Baiza believes that although she is fast approaching 65 years of age, she is more optimistic than ever about the contributions that she can offer to young and older people who are striving to change their lifestyles to a more holistic way of living.
Peg Clayton Scholarships
Meera-Christine Behrens currently works for a non-profit
educational organization and is
also a substitute teacher. She has
had more than 30 years of
teaching experience and believes
that “her commitment to teaching
is a means of exerting positive
influence on others.”
For almost 28 years she has volunteered her knowledge of Bach flower remedies as a layhomeopath. She estimates that she currently works with about 60 clients. Meera-Christine is also the host family coordinator for Leadership Training and Civic Education for Youths from Bosnia and Herzegovina, the program coordinator and instructor for Youths for Environment and Service, and a homestay placement coordinator. Meera- Christine says she “fully accepts the responsibility for providing positive input to a person’s outlook to help them along in the healing process.” She wants her life to be a model and an inspiration to many, through her harmonious relationship with her land, her home, her animals, her plants, her food, and her lifestyle.
Laurie Lounsbury is currently working alongside a social worker for the pediatric hematology/ oncology group at her local medical center, where she is collecting stories and photographs of children who have beaten different types of cancer. Laurie’s intent is to combine these stories into a booklet that she can then distribute to parents of newly diagnosed children. Her goal is to bolster hope!
Laurie believes that her local nutrition/natural health community needs more knowledgeable, strong healers that can offer support and guidance to clients who are embroiled in difficult emotions. She wants to help chil-dren with cancer by educating them and their parents on the importance of nutrition, helping them to create meal plans that take into consideration variables such as allergies, types of foods available during hospital stays, and neutropenia (dangerously low immunity). Laurie believes that a nutritional consultant should be available in every oncologist’s office, and that they should “work very closely with their client, following up often, answering questions, paying close attention to vitamin, mineral, and antioxidant intake as well as the balance of protein, fat, and carbohydrates, providing support and re-emphasizing the important consequences of our food choices.”
Independent Scholarships
Nancy McKeen has been an educator for the last 28 years. She loves to teach because she loves to learn! She has participated in numerous in-district workshops, has been a presenter at local organizations and mentored four student teachers. Currently Nancy has six eighth graders working on a bill proposal to make it mandatory that all school lunch programs offer students a menu that does not exceed the daily recommended amounts of sugars, fats, and carbohydrates, but that does offer the students a variety of whole grains, fruits, and vegetables for their lunch selections.
Nancy also believes in natural health care for companion animals. She has a local veterinarian that practices both traditional veterinarian medicine as well as homeopathy. She shares many of her homeopathic veterinarian’s methods and suggestions with her students.
Daniel Mwamidi initiated developmental research on the efficacy between conventional and alternative treatments of HIVAIDS. He actively promotes awareness of HIV-AIDS in his community and assists those with HIV-AIDS by educating them about nutrition and proper diet. His topics include the role of nutrition in treatments and prevention of common human ailments at local seminars and he has participated in a research project in which natural products were used as remedies for common human ailments. Daniel is on the forefront at the local university of a bio-prospecting committee. The committee’s objectives are to develop natural approaches to assist with most tropical ailments. He also works for an herbal soap company.
Daniel has learned much through his research for this company in identifying some herbs that are ideal for dermatological ailments. Daniel wants to be a natural health advocate for his country, Kenya. He states that in his country, “there are no colleges to advance the profession of natural health. Most of the efforts are given to conventional treatments.” Daniel believes strongly that through education he can influence the current Kenyan lifestyle to adopt more tenets of a natural lifestyle.
Sharon Snively has a thirst for knowledge. She is currently the director of her local library and writes a weekly newspaper column. She is a member of a local center that supports natural foods from local producers. Sharon gives free workshops and writes articles for local publications on gardening, healthy cooking, and growing and using herbs. She has a greenhouse and she teaches many people about herbs and how to grow and use them.
Sharon believes that “holistic nutrition offers the general public help in developing a healthier diet, with more autonomous control over their health.” She believes that she can make a difference in the lives of people around her by sharing her passion about holistic nutrition.
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