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NJCOS SCHOLARSHIP AWARDS ANNOUNCED
May, 2009
Jay Schnapp, the National Jewish Committee on Scouting Scholarship Chair, has announced the winners of this year's NJCOS scholarship awards. The NJCOS awarded $7,000 in need based and merit scholarships. To qualify, all Scouts were required to earn the Eagle Scout rank and either the Ner Tamid Emblem or the Etz Chaim Emblem.
The scholarships were awarded to the individuals below. For additional information, click on the recipient's name.
Chester M. Vernon Memorial Eagle Scout Scholarship ($1,000 per year for 4 years)
- Samuel J. Weinzimer, Nashville, TN
Rick Arkans Eagle Scout Scholarship ($1,000)
- Seth J. Alson, Fresno, CA
Frank L. Weil Memorial Eagle Scout Scholarships
First Place ($1,000)
- Steven N. Levitt, Creve Coeur, MO
Second Place ($500)
- Evan L. Mielke, Lawrence, KS
- William R. J. Whiting, Bloomfield Hills, MI
Samuel J. Weinzimer
Nashville, TN
Chester M. Vernon Memorial Eagle Scout Scholarship ($1,000 per year for 4 years)
Sam is an Eagle Scout with 51 merit badges. He has two silver palms and was awarded the BSA Interpreter Strip for German.
He has held the leadership positions of Secretary and Treasurer in his local AZA chapter. He was also awarded the “Best Four-year Member” award. He is active in his local OA Chapter, serving on the Elections Team and was Vice Chief of Program.
He has worked for the last 3 years as a first aid and camping skills instructor at his council summer camp, teaching first and second year scouts.
He attended the National Scout Jamboree in 2005, Philmont Scout Ranch in 2007 (where he was elected crew navigator and earned the Philmont Religious Emblem) and Seabase, where he was elected crew leader. He has earned his Ner Tamid Award. He also visited the 2007 100th Anniversary World Jamboree in England.
He attends Martin Luther King Jr. Academic Magnet High School, where he has taken 11 AP courses, and was awarded AP Scholar with Honors for excelling in the AP exams. He has participated in a four-year pre-engineering program at his High School, and will be graduation with a dual-track diploma.
He is a founding member of his school’s Fencing Club, serving as its treasurer. He also participated in the Forensics Club and in Model U.N. as both a member of the General Assembly and the Security Council. He has participated in band, playing three different instruments throughout high school.
Sam is very active in community service projects, volunteering his time at the Nashville Humane Society, YMCA, local food banks, synagogues and churches.
In the fall, Sam will be attending Virginia Tech, in Blacksburg, Virginia. He plans to major in Aerospace and Ocean Engineering.
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Seth J. Alson
Fresno, CA
Rick Arkans Eagle Scout Scholarship ($1,000)
Seth Joseph Alson earned the rank of Eagle Scout at the age of 15. For his Eagle Project, Seth designed and led the construction of an Israeli Dodgeball court, better known as a “gaga pit”, for Temple Beth Israel in Fresno. Subsequently, Seth earned three Eagle Palms. In scouting, he has traveled across the world, participating in the 2005 National Jamboree, 2006 NOAC, and the 2007 World Jamboree. He will be attending the 2009 NOAC, and has been accepted to work on staff at the 2010 National Jamboree in Virginia. He is an Assistant Scoutmaster and OA Troop Representative of Troop 130 in Fresno, California.
In the Order of the Arrow, Seth has held numerous positions. He has been the Lodge Awards Chairman, Lodge Vice Chief of Camping Promotion, and Chief of Tah-Heetch Lodge. He is currently Lodge Vigil Committee Chairman, and Section W3S Conclave Vice Chief of Special Events. In addition, he is active as an OA ceremonialist, most recently serving as a member of the Brotherhood team as the Mighty Chief. Seth is planning to participate in the Vigil Honor Ceremony competition at the NOAC this summer.
Seth is currently a senior at Bullard High School in Fresno, CA. During his high school career, he has been a Varsity runner in Cross Country for three years and Track for four years. Seth has been a Scholar Athlete six times. He is also a life member of the California Scholarship Federation.
Seth has earned the Ner Tamid Religious Emblem. He is active in his Temple Youth Group, and had the opportunity to participate during the summer of 2008 on a NFTY L’Dor v’Dor (from generation to generation) trip that included visits in Prague, Auschwitz, and Warsaw before traveling to Israel. He is also active in the Temple Brotherhood, and helps run the Temple’s video equipment.
Seth will be attending the University of California Santa Barbra this fall. He has been accepted into their Honors Program to pursue a degree in Chemical Engineering.
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Steven N. Levitt
Creve Coeur, MO
Frank L. Weil Memorial Eagle Scout Scholarships (First Place $1,000)
Steven N. Levitt is an Eagle Scout with 3 palms. For his Eagle Scout Project, Steven designed and led the construction of a bridge for his congregation, Congregation Shaare Emeth in Creve Coeur, Missouri. After earning his Eagle Scout, Steven earned the Ner Tamid Religious award and was the first in his council to earn the Etz Chaim Religious award. Currently, Steven is an Assistant Scoutmaster for Troop 492 as well as being a Chapter Chief in the Shawnee Lodge of the Order of the Arrow. Steven has also been awarded the Vigil Honor and has worked at his council’s summer camp for 4 years.
Steven attended the National Jamboree and served as an Assistant Senior Patrol Leader for his councils troop contingent to the 2007 World Scout Jamboree, in London. Steven has been to numerous Section Conclaves and Philmont, biked across Missouri, and hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon.
Outside of Scouting, Steven is a senior at Parkway North High School in St. Louis, Missouri, where he is a member of the National Honor Society, Mu Alpha Theta, Robotics club and Mock Trial Team.
In the fall, Steven will be matriculating as a member of the Class of 2013 at the University of Kansas to study Architectural Engineering.
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William (Billy) Ryan Joseph Whiting
Bloomfield Hills, MI
Frank L. Weil Memorial Eagle Scout Scholarships (Second Place $500)
Billy attained the rank of Eagle Scout at fourteen years of age. He is a fifth generation member of Temple Beth El and is the only one to have earned the Maccabee; the Aleph and the Ner Tamid Religious Awards in Scouting. Billy earned 36 Merit Badges and additionally, the Gold, Silver and Bronze Palms.
Billy is active in his Temple by continuing a nearly one hundred year old tradition that his grandfather initiated and his mother continued. It is the longest consecutively running program in the Temple Religious School and encourages all students from grades PK through 6th Grade to read books by Jewish authors or about Jewish subject matter.
Billy’s Eagle Project involved the creation of an Archival Confirmation Hallway. The construction of which concerned scanning, labeling, identifying and framing all confirmation photos from the 1800’s to present day. The Wall was later dedicated to Billy for all his personal commitment, organization, initiative and culmination of this historical project.
At school, Billy has been the News and Music Director of the number one High School radio station (WBFH) in the nation. Billy has won the Bronze and Silver Microphone awards in Broadcasting from the Michigan Association of Educational Broadcasters. He was asked by the State of Michigan to broadcast the Michigan Boy’s Basketball finals from Lansing, which was heard around the world via the station website.
Billy’s plans include studying pre-med at Wayne State University where he has been accepted to in the fall.
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Evan L. Mielke
Lawrence, KS
Frank L. Weil Memorial Eagle Scout Scholarships (Second Place $500)
Evan Mielke had his Eagle Scout Court of Honor on August 24, 2008, at the Lawrence Jewish Community Center. He  graduated in May from Free State High School in Lawrence, Kansas, and will be attending the University of Kansas in the fall. During his scouting career, Evan earned the Arrow of Light and the Aleph award as a Cub Scout. In scouting he earned 31 merit badges, achieved the Ner Tamid religious award, and became a Brotherhood member of the Order of the Arrow. He attended Camp Alexander near Lake George, Colorado, during the summers of 2002, 2003, and 2004. He returned to Camp Alexander as a staff member during the summers of 2005, 2006, and 2008. He was the crew leader for his group when they went to Philmont Scout Ranch in 2007. Evan’s Eagle project involved a revitalization and addition of benches to a butterfly garden at Langston Hughes Elementary School. He is currently an Assistant Scout Master with Troop 53 in Lawrence, Kansas.
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