2025 Scholarship Recipients
Emily Hitchcock
Charlotte Lacy
Charlotte Lacy is driven by two core passions: education and service. At Redwood High School for the last two years, she has been co-chair of the annual Marin Prom Boutique. The Boutique provides free formal wear to students at a pop-up store in The Village mall. Organizing begins in the early school year to request donations from retailers and to solicit corporate and community contributions. By January student volunteers convert the store front into an actual boutique. Charlotte expanded the reach of the project by collaborating with other Marin schools. This year they gave away nearly 500 dresses to students across the Bay Area.
Charlotte herself struggled with dyslexia and received special education services. As a student athlete, she learned about Unified Sports, a program for integrating students with learning disabilities to encourage participation in sports. Redwood did not have such a program so Charlotte founded the Unified Track program to pair students with and without intellectual disabilities in track and field team activities. Charlotte also created the Unified Friends Club to provide other opportunities for inclusion and integration in campus life. Charlotte is the Unified Sports Student Lead Representative for the Marin County Office of Education and works to expand the program across the county and state. She has mentored a student coach who will carry on her Redwood programs once she graduates.
Charlotte has also been very active in RHS’s Tobacco Use and Prevention Education program, which educates students about the risks of tobacco, drug, and alcohol use. She has led dozens of presentations at Marin middle schools and has introduced innovative activities such as anonymous Q&As and a vape buy back program.
Charlotte is editor in chief of the Redwood Bark school newspaper as well as Associated Student Body President. She plans to attend Vanderbilt University where she will study Special Education.
Sara Jordan
Sara Jordan is a self-motivated young woman who enjoys sharing skills and spreading knowledge. As a freshman at Redwood High School, she became a regular volunteer in the then fledgling peer tutoring program, Homework Helpers. She provided consistency and personalized support to students and was subsequently asked to lead the program.
As a junior in high school, Sara created and led a unique library-based community program entitled Crochet Corner. After formulating lesson plans and gathering and creating teaching aids and materials, Sara dove in. She can have up to 25 attendees in class, many of whom are older adults. Her ability to teach and share her passion with a group across a range of ages and skill levels is fueled by her excitement in helping community members learn something new.
Sara has been a competitive swimmer with Tidal Waves swim club since the age of 7. She volunteers as an instructor with the South of Marin Aquatics (SOMA), a foundation offering free, inclusive swim lessons to all ages and abilities regardless of socioeconomic status. She teaches children aged 4-14 the skills to be safe and confident in the water as well as what she describes as “the joy, discipline and camaraderie swimming provides.”
In the summer of 2024, Sara spent a six week internship in Tanzania with the UCSF Institute of Global Health Sciences focusing on HIV/AIDS education and its impact. She has a interest in infectious disease and plans to attend UCLA to study public health.
Emily Hitchcock credits her mother for showing her the value of service and inspiring her to improve the world. She found early opportunities as a young Girl scout, and later volunteered with her teacher-mother in the Mill Valley Summer School Program prior to entering Redwood High. At Redwood, she continued throughout high school providing student peer support as a volunteer with the Bridge the Gap College Prep program and as a peer tutor.
Emily’s has dedicated time before and after school hours as part of the Redwood Leadership program. In that capacity she gives voice to student concerns and also helps plan and manage major school events. She currently attends monthly board meetings as a Tamalpais School District Student Trustee.
Inspired both by growing up in Marin, and her participation in and leadership of the Redwood High School Botany Club, Emily has been a driving force for creating a local community garden. This has involved hours of research, planning and fundraising, along with coordinating multiple municipal and nonprofit entities in order to realize the inception of the People’s Garden at Cove Park. Through her work and dedication to this project, Emily was elected as the Youth Parks and Recreation Commissioner.
We shall not fail to mention that Emily and a friend started a beekeeping and honey gathering business call Jars for Joy. The profits from the honey they sell is donated to the Center for Domestic Peace.
Emily plans to attend Cornell University majoring in Environmental sustainability with a focus on policy and government.
