Annually, Guide Dogs for the Blind awards scholarships to puppy raisers in their senior year of high school. The scholarships reward outstanding scholastic achievements and community service experience within Guide Dogs and their communities. For 2010, we were pleased to award three $1,000 scholarships. Congratulations to our winners, and good luck in your future academic endeavors!
Trevor Kalkus
Trevor, of Jefferson County, Colo., was 12 when his older sister, Wendy, got her first Guide Dog puppy. Trevor caught the puppy raising bug as well, and just finished raising his family’s sixth guide dog, Jude. Just as Trevor continued the family’s puppy raising tradition by co-raising their fourth dog with Wendy as she headed to college, his younger sister, Kira, will continue the family's puppy raising legacy by taking the helm as Trevor heads to school.
In the three years that Trevor participated in the Arapahoe County 4H Fair, his Guide Dog presentations won him second place, first place, and Grand Champion respectively. Trevor was also the coordinator of Doggie Tales, a program that arranged for Guide Dog puppies in training to visit a different library every month so that children learning to read would have a friendly, appreciative audience for their new skills.
Although puppy raising is Trevor’s favorite activity, he also participates in theater, band, skiing, tennis, and many other clubs. At D’Evelyn Jr./Sr. High School, where he graduated as salutatorian, he was in the Spanish Honor Society, Tri-M musical service society, and Mu Alpha Theta tutoring. He was also president of the school’s National Honor Society where he organized volunteering and fundraising for the Salvation Army, Project Cure, Operation Christmas Child, Denver Rescue Mission, Bonfils blood drive, and much more.
Next year Trevor will be a freshman at Stanford University. He is very excited and only regrets not being allowed to have a puppy in his dorm room with him.
Margery Magill
Margery, of Sutter County, Calif., has been a member of the Yuba-Sutter-Colusa 4-H Guide Dog Puppy Raisers Club for five years and has raised four puppies. Two graduated as working guides, one is a breeder, and her fourth puppy just returned to GDB for formal training.
In her puppy raising club Margery has held the office of president, secretary and historian, and also co-created a towel/blanket drive for local animal shelters.
In addition to raising Guide Dog puppies, Margery has been actively involved in many leadership and community service organizations. She has been a member of her local Future Farmers of America (FFA) chapter and served as president, reporter and secretary. Margery has received her Golden State FFA Degree (the highest degree a member can receive in the State of California) and served as an official voting delegate at the National FFA Convention two years in a row. Margery is also an eight-year member of a second 4-H club in her county, serving as club president and secretary, and attended the California Focus 4-H conference as one of the ten Young Civic Leader award recipients. She also participated in the Citizenship Washington Focus 4-H Conference in Washington, D.C. and traveled to Japan with the 4-H International Exchange Program. Margery is an 11-year member of Girl Scouts and has received her Bronze and Silver Award for community service. She has also participated in her local Relay for Life program as team captain and traveled to Mexico each year for three years to build houses for impoverished families. Margery also shoots and coaches on a competitive archery team in her area.
In her spare time, Margery owns and manages her own business called "Honey Do Boer Goats." She raises and sells Boer goats as breeding and market animals. Currently Margery has over 20 goats in her herd and has received awards for her business including the Star FFA Regional Agribusiness Award for 2010.
Margery graduated from the Marysville Charter Academy for the Arts as co-salutatorian of her class and will be attending the University of California, Davis, in the fall with a major in International Agriculture Development.
Robyn Saldino
Robyn is from Ventura County, Calif., and has been raising Guide Dog puppies for as long as she can remember. Her family has raised a total of thirteen puppies, many of which have become breeders or working guides. She loves volunteering for Camp Bloomfield’s Summer Festival each year, and was inspired to do so by her older sister, Sarah, who was a camp counselor there. Robyn is actively involved in raising community awareness about GDB and its programs, and aspires to one day work with youth non-profit community service organizations in order to motivate youth to make a great difference in the world. She has worked with preschool, elementary, middle school, and high school-aged students from all over California, Nevada, and Hawaii to educate them about Guide Dogs.
Robyn was a member of the California Scholarship Federation; the National Honor Society; Students Encouraging Social, Political, and Environmental Action (SESPEA); and the Math, Engineering, and Science Achievement (MESA) club. In addition, she participated in Marching Band, Concert Band, Choir, and Key Club (serving as president for two years, and lieutenant governor for one year). She was also active in Theatre Team, where she served as secretary, treasurer and publicist, while performing in and directing many shows. Robyn was recently named a Coca-Cola Foundation Scholar, Ventura County STAR Scholar, Rotary Scholar, Cali-Nev-Ha Kiwanis Foundation Scholar, Bank of America Fine Arts Award Winner, and National Hispanic Scholar, all while maintaining a 4.87 GPA.
In addition to school, Robyn has participated actively in gymnastics for 15 years, both as a coach and a competitor; other hobbies include dance, swimming and yoga. She will be attending Sonoma State University, majoring in Theatre with an emphasis on Dance, and minoring in Voice and Public Speaking as an Arminaña University Presidential Scholar. Robyn is excited to be living near GDB's California campus in San Rafael, and hopes to volunteer for Guide Dogs in her spare time.
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