Two students received scholarships from Gumbo Limbo Coastal Stewards.
The recipient of the 2023 Don Stone Scholarship of $12,000 is Joey Gabriel of Royal Palm Community High School. Haille Hiemstra of Jupiter Community High School is the recipient of the 2023 Gordon Gilbert Scholarship of $10,000.
Coastal Stewards, an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that promotes sea turtle conservation, announced the recipients of its Don Stone and Gordon Gilbert Scholarships at the annual George Snow Scholarship Fund ceremony June 3 at Lynn University.
“The Don Stone Scholarship is a competitive, need-based scholarship award that is awarded to one Palm Beach or Broward County high school student who wishes to study or research preserving coastal waters and lands,” John Holloway, CEO and president, Gumbo Limbo Coastal Stewards, said in a news release. “Our goal is to help future marine and environmental leaders by guaranteeing them continued financial support across their academic tenures.”
The scholarship is named for “friend of the sea and science teacher extraordinaire” Don Stone, who went from protecting the United States as one of the first Navy SEALS, to teaching at A.D. Henderson University School and Palm Beach Community College, to preserving land and sea around Boca Raton as chairman of the city’s Environmentally Sensitive Lands Management Committee and longterm member of its Marine Advisory Board.
The Gordon Gilbert Scholarship is awarded to high school seniors who plan to continue their education in a marine related major that ties to the Coastal Stewards’ mission of conservation. This scholarship is named for one of the founders of the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center. Gordon Gilbert, a former science teacher at Boca Raton Community High School, also was one of the leaders who championed the preservation of the coastal hammock.
For more information on Gumbo Limbo Coastal Stewards, established in 2012 (as Friends of Gumbo Limbo), visit gumbolimbo.org.
For more information on the George Snow Scholarship Fund, visit scholarship.org.
