Each year, the Stanley Ann Dunham Scholarship Fund awards $5,000 college scholarships to graduating senior women at Mercer Island High School and Rainier Beach High School who demonstrate that they share Dunham’s values of education and service through their strong academic records and impactful service in the community.

This year the fund awarded four scholarships: two to MIHS seniors Arwa Mokdad and Sophie Poole, and to RBHS seniors Gabriela Jimenez and Michelle King. The other four finalists from MIHS were Sarah Crumrine, Zoe Sheill, Ella Warburg and Julia Graham.

During the ceremony, the scholars and finalists performed a spoken word poem they created in a workshop with Grammy-nominated artist and guest speaker Hollis Wong-Wear.

Another highlight of this year’s program was the reading of a letter from former President Barack Obama (Dunham’s son) congratulating the scholars and thanking the fund and its supporters for their “continued dedication to our shared mission of lifting up the next generation of thinkers, dreamers, and doers…my mother would be very proud to know her legacy lives on in the incredible work of these young women.”

In a press release, the fund thanks Mercer Island sponsors Cascade Frames, Island Books, Mercer Island Eyeworks, Mercer Island Florist, the Northend QFC, Sugar Mountain – Beecher’s Cheese, US Bank and the Office of Carrie York, DDS, and congratulates its 2018 scholars as they continue on their path as empowered women leaders and active world citizens.

From left, guest speaker Hollis Wong-Wear introduces spoken word poem performers Naj Ali, Gabriela Jimenez, Meron Mekonnen, Sarah Crumrine, Christine Hau, Arwa Mokdad and Sophie Poole. Photo courtesy of Stanley Ann Dunham Scholarship Fund