Senior Kate Dean-McKinney Receives Emily Couric Leadership Awards

Kate excels academically at Tandem Friends and will be attending The College of William and Mary in the fall. She serves on the Student Standards Committee, is a member of the Friends Council, plays and captains soccer and basketball, runs cross country, acts in school plays, has sung in the jazz band, and is a member of the Tandem Model United Nations team and the Big Badgers program. She began at Tandem in the sixth grade after attending Free Union Country School. She learned to scuba dive for her Senior Project. In her seven years at Tandem Friends, she has demonstrated leadership at every turn - on the sports field and court, in the classroom, in service projects, on stage, and in student government. It is for these reasons that the Upper School faculty selected her as Tandem's nominee.

The Emily Couric Leadership Forum created the Emily Couric Leadership Scholarship to be awarded each year to a senior girl attending any local (Charlottesville or Albemarle County) high school. Each school nominates a senior girl who demonstrates leadership at school and in the community. A committee of community leaders interviews the nominees and determines the winner. The selection committee also chose to award one optional $5,000 merit scholarship, given to Tandem's Kate Dean-McKinney. The group has awarded over $566,500 to 123 girls since program began in 2001. Tandem alum Alia Stewart-Silver won the Emily Couric Leadership Scholarship in 2006.