The Harris Center recently honored Erin Weidner of Conant High School and Aria Frehner of ConVal High School with its 2021 Environmental Leadership Awards. These awards are given annually to graduating high school seniors who have a demonstrated passion for the natural world, a strong commitment to environmental issues, and the capacity to have a positive impact on their community and beyond. Each award comes with a $2,500 scholarship, made possible through the generosity of an anonymous donor who believes in the power of young people to create positive environmental change.
Weidner of Rindge plans to attend the University of Vermont. She has a great appreciation for the outdoors and plans to major in history on a pre-law track, with a minor in environmental science so that “I can fight for something that I’m passionate about,” she said.
“Erin was a stellar AP and Honors student, a creative thinker, passionate about the environment, and I see her as being a genuine world changer,” said Anne-Marie Osheyack, Weidner’s science teacher.
Frehner of Hancock is the ConVal National Honor Society president and an avid beekeeper, who plans to major in environmental studies and dance at Mount Holyoke College. Frehner says bees “pollinate about 80% of all flowering plants on earth and are essential to maintaining biodiversity. I care about protecting the planet that is our life force. I care enough to dedicate my life to it.”