Lopez Island Community Scholarship Foundation is pleased to offer scholarship opportunities for students who are residents of Lopez, Decatur, and Center Islands. Our mission is to invest in and guide student post-secondary career success by providing continuing scholarships (from one to five years, depending on the program of study or training), by matching each student with a community advocate to mentor and respond to each student’s needs, and by maintaining relationships between the student, the organization, and the community.

We encourage all students to apply, those who are considering four-year colleges as well as those who are considering vocational or artistic schooling.

Get Involved

Financial Contributor

Sponsor one or more of the scholarship students for four years (currently $5,000) or contribute any financial amount that can be pooled

Student Advocate

Commit to help and mentor a scholarship student and be the communication link between the student and the Board

How to Apply
(2024 Application is now available!)

Download Application (PDF)

Descargar aplicación (PDF)

The application can be filled out electronically and returned at the email or mailing address below.

Mailing Address:
PO Box 62
Lopez Island, WA 98261

Email Address:
lopezscholars@gmail.com

Students commit to the following if selected:

Provide brief year end reflections on their educational experience and share expectations for the coming year

Demonstrate they are making progress toward their goals by maintaining passing grades and submitting transcripts each quarter or semester

Keep in touch with LICSF through text, email, or phone at least once per quarter and visit occasionally

Frequently Asked Questions

Is this the same organization as the Lopez Island Education Foundation?
— No, the Lopez Island Education Foundation is organized to financially supplement under-funded Lopez Island School programs that are integral to children’s education. Our organization provides financial scholarships to help students with their post-secondary education.

Does a student have to go to Lopez High School to be eligible?
— No, however the student must live on Lopez Island or in the Lopez Island School District, which includes Decatur and Center Islands.

Does a student have to be in financial need to receive a scholarship?
— No single factor determines a scholarship award and the selection committee will consider each applicant holistically. Financial need, community involvement, academic standing, and future pursuits are all considered in the selection process.

How are scholarship recipients selected?
— Applications are reviewed by a selection committee, which in turn makes recommendations to the full Board of Directors.

What happens if a scholarship recipient drops out of school?
— He/she will forfeit the remainder of their scholarship.

What happens if a scholarship recipient wants to take a gap year?
— Gap years are allowed, but the scholarship is postponed for that year.

How much work is it to be an advocate?
— Advocate work is not expected to be time consuming and will likely fluctuate depending on the needs of the student.

Contact Us

Questions? Email us at: lopezscholars@gmail.com

Board Members

Stephen Adams

Steve and his wife, Laura moved to Lopez Island in 1980. They hand built their home and raised their two girls, Serina and Ariella, on Lopez. Steve taught and coached track at Lopez Island School for 30 years, retiring in 2010. During his teaching, he developed and taught an early integrated science and technology program. He is a past Fire and Planning Commissioner and is currently a Port of Lopez Commissioner.

Mary Bywater Cross

A native Iowan, Mary moved to Portland, Oregon in 1970. Purchasing her Lopez home in 2008, she moved here permanently in April 2020. While in Oregon as a community volunteer, she served on grant funding committees for her community, church, and national organizations. These often included scholarships for furthering education. She currently serves on the Herbert Hoover Presidential Foundation Board of Trustee as a member of the Grants Review Committee. The committee works with the staff archivists to oversee the applicants seeking funding to utilize the Hoover Presidential Library Archives. With her late husband, Robert Newman, she established a fund at the UIowa College of Education providing grants to graduate students for research travel and conference presentation. Additionally, her two grandchildren are graduating from high school and reaching the age of considering their future options. She is involved with their decision making and contributing to their support.

Craig Citro

Craig visited Lopez on his first trip to the Pacific Northwest in 2005, and decided right away he'd be happy to stay forever. A lucky series of twists and turns led to Craig, his wife Asia, and their two kids settling here full time in 2020. Craig started his career on the academic track, getting a PhD in Mathematics at UCLA and coming to UW for a postdoctoral position. With their first little one on the way, Craig and Asia realized they didn't want to leave the area, so Craig left his academic position and started a job as a software engineer at Google, where he's been ever since. The pandemic and work-from-home finally let them move to Lopez full-time, and they couldn't be happier. While at Google, he's had a number of opportunities to be involved with teaching and mentoring college and graduate students interested in careers in the software industry; he's excited to spend some time working with K-12 students here in the community.

Tom Cowan

Tom, his wife Tammy, and their two young sons moved to Lopez Island in 1974, where both boys spent their entire K-12 education at Lopez School before going off to college. Tom is a former San Juan County Commissioner, and he and Tammy owned Sunset Builders Supply for many years. He has been active in organizing community scholarships for Lopez High School graduates for the past 18 years and is a former member of the Dollars for Scholars Board.

Linda Floodeen

Linda Floodeen worked in school district accounting for many years, and she continues to maintain a small accounting business from home. She is a former board member of Lopez Island Dollars for Scholars, where she served as treasurer. Linda has often provided financial services to nonprofit groups as a volunteer.

Shel Haber

Shel’s career has focused on leadership in education and not-for-profit organizations. Before moving to the Northwest, Shel taught high school and community college. He then served as the Finance Director for Seattle Opera, followed by a distinguished career as the Vice President for Administration and Finance at Bastyr University. During his time as an educator, Shel also focused on mentoring students for success in their pursuit of post-secondary education options and continues to serve underserved populations in that role today. Shel has worked closely with Municipalities and Bond Authorities, authoring campus master plans and executing several higher education and clinical facility bonds. He currently works with several Boards, appointments to Pension Fund and Endowment Committees, a fully qualified site evaluator for the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities and enjoys volunteering with business and individuals on their strategic and financial plans. In 2000, Shel, his wife Patsy and their children Jordan, Matthew and Maya were fortunate to call Lopez Island their full time home.

Debby Hatch

Debby Hatch has lived on Lopez since 1994 when she and her husband Scott finished building their house. She taught in the UW English Department and consulted with the UW Center for Instructional Development and Research from 1979 to 2005 when she took early retirement. One of her on-going interests at UW was helping students discover strategies for learning at the college level. On Lopez, she wrote the monthly Green Living Column for the Islands Weekly from 2006-2011 and her blog Lopez Island Kitchen Gardens from 2011 to present.

Claudia Rempel

Claudia and her husband Jeremy, moved to Lopez in the Summer 2015 from Southern California. Soon after, she began work at the Lopez Island Library as their Office Manager. As a parent to two young children, she quickly became involved in many aspects of Island life. She has formerly worked on the boards of the Lopez Island Family Resource Center and Lopez Island PTSA. In her spare time, Claudia is a reader and quilter.

Peter Stamats

Peter is president and CEO of Stamats Communications, Inc. His family’s business has provided consulting and marketing services to colleges and universities nationwide for over 30 years. He completed his undergraduate and graduate education at Stanford University in 1983. Peter, and his wife Karen are currently part-time residents of Lopez Island following 25 years of vacationing on Lopez. They look forward to increasing community involvement on Lopez. In his free time, Peter is an avid cyclist, beekeeper and photographer.

Gretchen Wing

A native North Carolinian, Gretchen moved to Tacoma with her husband Ken in 1990, to start a family as Northwesterners. After their two sons left the nest in 2010, they became full-time Lopezians, and Gretchen left her career as a high school English and History teacher to became a baker at Holly B’s, and a novelist and songwriter. She is a Mentor with the Family Resource Center, and served previously on the board of the Lopez Island Conservation Corps. She can be found road-tripping, hiking and camping with Ken; cooking and eating; and singing and playing guitar with friends.

Rip Van Camp

Board Member Emeritus

Robert “Rip” Van Camp has enjoyed a long and distinguished career in business management and consulting for both corporations and non-profits. Rip’s passion has focused on three Lopez community services categories: helping students find success in higher education by serving on the board of the local scholarship foundation, overall community support in the development of our Community Center, and helping solve the affordable housing issue as a founder of LOHO that developed The Hamlet. Rip’s business and governance experience includes positions on two graduate schools including chairman of the Wake Forrest School of Management. He has also served on the boards of the YMCA of Winston Salem, N.C.

Jeanna Carter

Board Member Emerita

After 25 pioneering years in the food service industry, longtime Lopez resident Jeanna Carter pursued her other passions of sustainable living and education. She holds a Bachelors Degree in Sustainable Community Development with an emphasis on Education, and a Masters Degree in School Guidance Counseling from Prescott College. She has been the K-12 Lopez Island School Counselor since 2004. She has served on many local boards and committees, including the Lopez Preschool Board and the Lopez Community Center for the Arts board. She was a founding board member of Kwiaht, Lopez Island Education Foundation, and the Lopez Island Dollars for Scholars Scholarship program. She enjoys kayaking, walking, and gardening.