Kirk Scholarship applications now available for high school students from the Town of Woodbury

Highland Mills - Applications are now available for the 2011 Kirk Memorial Scholarship, sponsored by the Woodbury Historical Society. Candidates must be current high school seniors who reside in the Town of Woodbury. Application forms and instructions are available from the guidance offices at the Monroe-Woodbury, Cornwall and Burke high schools, the Highland Mills and Central Valley branches of the Woodbury Public Library and directly from the Woodbury Historical Society. Kirk Memorial Scholarship Awards (formerly the Margaret S. Kirk Memorial Scholarship) have historically been given in amounts ranging from $500 to $1,000. In terms of qualifications for the award, scholarship applicants are asked to demonstrate a strong commitment in one or more of the following areas: Achievement in the sciences, social studies, and/or dramatic arts; Service to school and/or community demonstrating compassion and altruism, as well as integrity, excellence and leadership; Intellectual curiosity and creativity. The Kirk Scholarship has been awarded every year starting in 1992 (making this year the 20th anniversary). A total of $21,600 has been awarded in those years. There have been 24 recipients (in a few years, there was more than one). For further information and application materials on the Kirk Memorial Scholarship, contact Bob Curtis at 928-2613, Fred Lindlaw at 928-9249, or the Woodbury Historical Society at 928-6770.

The people behind the Kirk Memorial Scholarship
This annual scholarship, administered under the auspices of the Woodbury Historical Society, honors Margaret S. and Adam Kirk, educators and community leaders well known in the area for more than 50 years. Both had wide-ranging talents and interests and were lifelong learners in the truest sense.
Margaret Kirk
Margaret Kirk was particularly interested in local history and drama. Her family was among the earliest Woodbury residents and she was instrumental in the formation of the Woodbury Historical Society. She contributed her time, expertise and memorabilia to the society continuously until her death in 1991. She had also assisted with the design of the auditorium stages at the present Central Valley Elementary (then M-W Jr./Sr. High) School and North Junior High School in Newburgh, both of which at the time of completion, were the finest theater spaces in Orange County. She taught English and drama and later was a librarian at Newburgh Free Academy for many years.
Adam Kirk
Adam Kirk taught science at South Junior High School in Newburgh for more than 35 years. For much of that period, he was also a member of the Monroe-Woodbury Board of Education, always making sure a teacher’s viewpoint was heard by the board. As a member of the first M-W Board, he was instrumental in the creation of the consolidated Monroe-Woodbury district in 1952. Mr. Kirk was also an avid outdoors man who enjoyed fishing, hiking, camping and teaching friends and family about our natural surroundings. Like a true Renaissance man, he was interested in most everything and enjoyed learning and teaching continuously until his death at age 91 in the year 2000.