The Violet Township Women’s League awarded four $2,500 scholarships to area students who served the community.
April 24, 2024
By Rachel Scofield
Four Violet Township seniors received $2,500 scholarships from the Violet Township Women’s League (VTWL) and were honored at an awards reception on April 23. Over the years, VTWL has awarded 67 scholarships totaling $144,000 to students who have donated time to serving the community.
To be eligible, a student needs to be a high school senior living in Violet Township who has maintained a high grade point average. The applicants must submit letters of recommendation as well as personal essays detailing their volunteer work.
This year’s winners are Cheyenne Burchett (Liberty Union High School), Grace Mashensic (Bishop Hartley High School), Luke Sheaffer (Saint Charles Preparatory School) and Alysa Stagmyer (Pickerington High School Central).
Cheyenne Burchett (Liberty Union)
Cheyenne Burchett is a senior at Liberty Union High School. Her letters of recommendation described her as “passionate, enthusiastic and having an unwavering commitment to helping others”.
Burchett’s dedication to community service began at a young age when her mother would take her to help with the Lower Light’s Ministry of the Nazarene dinners. The Lower Light’s Ministry is a faith-based outreach program serving the Franklinton community. She has continued to volunteer with this program by assisting in the preparation, serving and cleanup of meals.
At the Pickerington Church of the Nazarene, Burchett assists with collecting personal hygiene products for Crisis Care Kits. She also assembled Crisis Care Kits at a youth conference in Tampa, Florida.
Burchett helps the church with maintenance including painting, landscape work, cleaning and decorating.
Prior to moving to Pickerington, Burchett lived in Grafton and volunteered at the West Campus Food Pantry for Christ Church in Elyria. There she helped prepare the pantry, assisted patrons and loaded groceries into vehicles.
She also has volunteered with the Food 4 Kids program which delivers bags of food to local schools so that students have food for the weekend.
Burchett has been accepted into several colleges of nursing and has yet to decide which she will attend.
Grace Mashensic (Bishop Hartley)
Grace Mashensic is a senior at Bishop Hartley High School. She has “extraordinary dedication, determination and genuine passion for making a positive impact on the world”. Mashensic is a member of the National Honor Society, student council, Hawks Who Pray, the school newspaper and the ambassador program. She won the Scholarship Athlete Award in volleyball for both the 2022-23 and 2023-24 school years.
Mashensic volunteers with the Adopt-a-Child program which collects and distributes Christmas gifts to struggling families. She also assists the Newark Community Outreach Program which prepares and serves meals to the area homeless. During the holidays, Mashensic volunteers with the Christmas Meal Outreach.
On Fridays after school, Mashensic donates her time to the Bishop Griffin Resource Center which provides food and clothing for individuals in need. She also serves as a mentor at the Prairie Camp hosted by Saint Pius X which empowers young girls and strengthens their self-confidence.
Grace wishes to work toward a more just, peaceful and equitable world and will be pursuing a degree in Peace, Justice and Human Rights at John Carroll University.
Luke Sheaffer (Saint Charles)
Jaime Lawler, the Advancement Director of Saint Charles Preparatory School said that Luke Sheaffer “demonstrates the charisms of our patron, Saint Charles Borromeo, which are humility, mercy and solidarity”.
Sheaffer is a member of the National Honor Society, Cardinal Capital Club and the Math Club. He has lettered in varsity baseball the past three years.
In the summer, Sheaffer volunteers at both the Saint Pius X and Saint Elizabeth Ann Serton Parish festivals. He tutors middle school students and helps at the Pickerington Public Library.
Over past few years, Sheaffer worked to improve the lives of residents at the Mohun Healthcare Center. Mohun is a skilled nursing facility near Ohio Dominican University which cares for those who have retired from religious service.
Shaeffer raised funds to renovate the center’s terrace patio with new planters and benches. The following year, he repaired parts of the building that had been damaged by flood.
When Shaeffer discovered that many of the residents were former Catholic school educators, he invited them to participate in Saint Charles events including the annual spaghetti dinner.
In the fall, Shaeffer will attend Purdue University where he intends to study Biomedical Engineering. Last summer, he served as an intern in the Biomedical Engineering Department at the Ohio State University.
Alysa Stagmyer (Pickerington Central)
Alysa Stagmyer is a senior at Pickerington High School Central who represents “herself and her community well in academics, as a leader and as a humanitarian.”
Stagmyer is a member of the National Honor Society and Central’s Key Club. She has earned a third-degree blackbelt in taekwondo and is an assistant taekwondo instructor.
At Reynoldsburg Community Church, Stagmyer helps in the nursery and with Vacation Bible School. She participated in the “Love Your Neighbor” event in which she did yard work for those who were unable to do so themselves.
At a young age Stagmyer’s parents instilled in her a passion for community service by bringing her to serve meals at the YMCA. When she was older, she began accompanying her father on his Meals on Wheels route and started participating in work camps that distributed food to homeless in Athens. Stagmyer also joined the “Children of the Nations” effort to pack meals for struggling people in Haiti.
Next fall, Stagmyer will attend the Ohio State University to study Business Administration.
