THE WYCKOFF AREA GARDEN CLUB
SALLY DITTON MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP
In memory of Wyckoff Area Garden Club Member Sally Ditton, a scholarship fund was created in her name. Each year an outstanding and deserving student enrolled in the Master’s Degree program in the Rutgers Department of Landscape Architecture will be chosen as the recipient of a $1,500.00 scholarship. Applicants must be New Jersey residents currently enrolled in the program.
About: SallyDitton
Read about: Sally’s Tribute & Dedication at the McFaul Environmental Center
Applicants please provide the following information: (1) A completed application due February 15, 2024; (2) a letter of recommendation from a member of the program faculty; and (3) a one-page (typed) essay describing your background, relevant activities, current field of study, and career goals. Mail to Wyckoff Area Garden Club Scholarship Committee, 353 Voorhis Avenue, Wyckoff, NJ 07481.
Select the green link to access the SDMS application.
The 2024 SDMS Application PDF File
Questions? Please email: wagc@wyckoffgc.org. Note: The application is a PDF file and can be opened/printed using Acrobat and Acrobat Reader.
Thank you for your participation and many thanks to The WAGC’s 2024 Scholarship Committee: Eileen Avia, Terry Brockett, & Bob Ditton.
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The 2024 Scholarship Recipients Announced
Congratulations to Kathleen Hammerdahl & Ana Maria Oliynyk,
Recipients of the 2024 Sally Ditton Memorial Scholarship
The Wyckoff Area Garden Club’s Scholarship Committee is pleased to announce this year’s scholarship recipients, Kathleen Hammerdahl and Ana Maria Oliynyk. Both students are currently enrolled in the Master’s Degree program in the Rutgers Department of Landscape Architecture.
Kathleen Hammerdahl received her Bachelors of Science degree from Rutgers University in 2023, focusing on ecology and art. She is an Honors College Scholar graduating summa cum laude, a G.H. Cook Scholar as well an NJASLA Student Merit Award recipient. Presently, Kathleen is a teaching assistant for her planting design class and a research assistant for the Landscape Architecture Department.
Ana Maria Oliynyk received her Bachelors of Science degree from CUNY in 2022 with a concentration in biophilia in the urban environment. She has received numerous awards and fellowships. Presently, Ana Maria has been chosen by the department director to work hands-on with Rutgers Camden in revising and redesigning one of their community gardens used for education and outreach. The chair of the MLA Thesis Committee wrote in her letter of recommendation that Ana Maria is one of the most dedicated, compassionate, and talented students she has worked with in over twenty years!
The WAGC congratulates these young women and wishes them well in all their landscaping endeavors!
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The 2023 Scholarship Recipient Announced
Congratulations to Laurie Ferreras,
Recipient of the 2023 Sally Ditton Memorial Scholarship
The WAGC Scholarship Committee recently announced that the Rutgers Graduate student, Laurie Ferreras, is the recipient of the 2023 Sally Ditton Memorial Scholarship. These are the heartfelt words that she shared in her scholarship application.
“I moved to New Jersey to study Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources at Rutgers University for my undergraduate degree. I became a G.H. Cook Scholar who presented research on surveying methods of bees, an AmeriCorps member who designed and built a rain and pollinator garden, and now a Master’s Degree student in Landscape Architecture. My design process always involves green spaces and providing spaces for pollinators. I aim to create spaces for self-reflection—to prioritize the self—within various environments, such as New York’s urban infrastructure. Green spaces are a place for us all to enjoy, and this is what Sally accomplished in Skylands in Ringwood and McFaul Environmental Center in Wyckoff. I hope to leave a legacy surrounded by people I love, like Sally, live passionately by protecting the people and places I love, and create spaces that can save lives.”
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The 2022 Scholarship Recipient Announced
Congratulations to Jordan Upadhyay,
Recipient of the 2022 Sally Ditton Memorial Scholarship
The WAGC Scholarship Committee recently announced that Rutgers Graduate student, Jordan Upadhyay is the recipient of the 2022 Sally Ditton Memorial Scholarship. Jordan received his Bachelor of Science, Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources Undergraduate degree in 2016 from Rutgers University and is currently enrolled in a Master’s Degree program in Landscape Architecture also at Rutgers, with a graduation date of 2024.
Jordan recently was a Teaching Assistant at Rutgers, serving as a primary contact as a communications liaison between students and professors and provided teaching support for the Rutgers Landscape Plants course. He also led field-based reviews for students to support their plant identification skills. In 2012, he received the James Dickson Carr Scholarship from Rutgers and the SAS Excellence Award the following year. In his spare time, Jordan is a talented percussionist. Congratulations, Jordan!
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The 2021 Scholarship Recipient Announced
Congratulations to Alexis Serido,
Recipient of the 2021 Sally Ditton Memorial Scholarship
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The 2020 Scholarship Recipient Announced
Congratulations to Giovanni Caputo,
Recipient of the 2020 Sally Ditton Memorial Scholarship
Giovanni Caputo received his Bachelor of Science degree from Rutgers University’s School of Landscape, double majoring in Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning & Design with a minor in Green Technologies at the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences. Giovanni is presently completing his Masters of Science degree at Rutgers. His Master’s Thesis is focused on the ecological restoration of the destroyed landscape of the Fishkill Park, located in the center of Staten Island, from garbage dumping to park creation.
Many thanks to all our WAGC’s Members who so generously donated to the SDMS Fund. A check for $1,500 will be mailed to Giovanni along with a congratulatory note.
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The 2019 Scholarship Recipient Announced
Congratulations to Alex Morrill,
Recipient of the 2019 Sally Ditton Memorial Scholarship
Alex Morrill, a junior at William Paterson University, is studying Environmental Science and will graduate with a Bachelor of Science degree. He is also a member of the Horticulture Society.
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The 2018 Scholarship Recipient Announced
Congratulations to Julian Dorsey,
Recipient of the 2018 Sally Ditton Memorial Scholarship
Julian Dorsey is a 2014 graduate of Rutgers University with a Bachelor of Science in Public Health. She is currently completing her second year of graduate school and is “settling into a niche of landscape architecture” as she passionately wrote in her application. Julian has taken great interest in watershed and stream health while working for the Lower Raritan Watershed Partnership. “The health of our waterways effects the health of our forests, ecosystems, and ultimately, community health,” Julian said.
She will focus on relating the data she has helped collect (nitrogen and oxygen levels to stream depth and temperature) to educate the public through local schools and teaching adults how to create a sustainable yard and garden through the creation of a guide book. Julian’s passion for landscape architecture, the environment, and gardening helped the WAGC Scholarship committee reach its decision to award Julian this year’s scholarship.
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The 2017 Scholarship Recipient Announced
Congratulations to Mark Hoopes,
Recipient of the 2017 Sally Ditton Memorial Scholarship
Mark Hoopes received a B.S. at Virginia Tech in 2008 and will graduate in May 2018 with a Masters of Landscape Architecture from Rutgers University. Mark was chosen to receive the $1,500 scholarship among an impressive group of applicants. WAGC Scholarship Committee Chair Elizabeth Strauss stated, “We were most impressed by Mark’s credentials, his dedication to landscape architecture and his strong faculty recommendation.” Rutgers Professor, Dean Cardasis commented in his letter of recommendation to WAGC, “It is important that future landscape architects have a strong ecological sense (like Mark’s) not only to preserve important natural resources, but to express them in the spacial experiences of people in such a way to make us more aware of them … and ourselves. Mark’s appreciation of plant ecology is enriched by the hands-on gardening experiences he has had.”
Mark Hoopes accepts the 2016 scholarship from Bob Ditton and WAGC President Eileen Avia at the WAGC’s fall kick-off meeting at The Wyckoff Public Library on September 13, 2017.
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The 2016 Scholarship Recipient Announced
Congratulations to Jacalyn DeValue,
Recipient of the 2016 Sally Ditton Memorial Scholarship
Jacalyn DeValue was the recipient 2016 WAGC Sally Ditton Memorial Scholarship. Jacalyn is a graduate student at Rutgers University, School of Environmental and Biological Studies. She received her B.A. in Environmental Studies from Alfred University in 2013. She was also the recipient of the Garden Club of New Jersey Scholarship in 2016. Jacalyn received her Girl Scout Gold Star Award in 2009, where she planted and oversaw construction and plantings of a rain garden by 15 volunteers. Today she is a member of the American Society of Landscape Architects. Jacalyn received her Sally Ditton Memorial Scholarship award at the WAGC September 2016 meeting. WAGC President Eileen Avia presents Jacalyn DeValue with a check for $1,500 to continue her studies in Landscape Management.
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