Kimberly Cummings of Chester awarded LWVVT scholarship

The League of Women Voters of Vermont announces that Kimberly Cummings of Chester is one of four recipients of a $1,500 Winona Smith Scholarship.

A 2022 graduate of Green Mountain Union High School, Cummings is an AP Scholar with Distinction and a member of the National Honor Society with awards from Rochester Institute of Technology, Clarkson University, University of Rochester and UVM. She was a math peer-tutor at school and a junior counselor and ambassador at Green Mountain Conservation Camp, as well as volunteering at soccer and basketball camps.

A standout three-sport athlete (soccer, basketball and softball), she was named to the Vermont high school girls soccer coaches’ All-State team for soccer, to the Southern Vermont League first team for basketball and to the South team for the North-South Softball Classic. She also set a new school record for the number of goals scored in a single season of girls’ soccer. Cummings will attend Worcester Polytechnic Institute, with plans to become a computer scientist at NASA.

The League of Women Voters of Vermont established its scholarship awards program in 1998 to honor the memory and legacy of long-time member Winona Smith. Selection is based on student civic participation, community service, school activities, financial need and teacher recommendation. Additionally, applicants must demonstrate civic ideals by writing two essays: one on voting rights and the other on a national or international event.

In her essay on voting, Cummings wrote about the importance of reaching high school voters: “By teaching students how voting works, there will be a greater chance of younger people wanting to vote and being more involved in their local community. Schools should not only focus on teaching students how to vote but also on educating students about the candidates and topics being voted on locally. This will increase voter turnout in younger generations.”