Three Thiel
Students Earn Vira I. Heinz Scholarships
For immediate release March 17, 2006
GREENVILLE, PA – Three Thiel College women
will have the opportunity to study abroad this summer
after being awarded Vira I. Heinz Scholarships for Education Abroad
for 2006.
The three scholarship winners – Karen
Mellor of Irwin,
Pa., Brooke Powell of Erie, Pa., and Jessica
Raybuck of Knox, Pa. – will
each receive $5,000 to study abroad during the upcoming summer.
 Mellor, a junior English major and history
minor, will use the award to study at Charles University in Prague,
Czech Republic where she will be enrolled in a four-week “Czech Language for Everyday Use” class
and a “Modern Czech History” class.
“I want to learn about the people of a new culture, speak their
language, use their currency, and live their daily lives – something
that is very difficult to achieve in a country that is accustomed to
accommodating tourists,” said Mellor.
Mellor, a 2004 graduate of Hempfield High School in Greensburg, Pa.,
is the daughter of K. Bradley and Kimberly Mellor of Irwin.
 Powell, a junior English and secondary education
major, plans to study British culture at Kingston University in Kingston-upon-Thames
in Greater London. Powell plans on taking a four-week “Exploring Cultural
London” class that participates in walking tours of the city and
exposes students to an in-depth exploration of the culture
of London.
“I think that I will be more capable of teaching these works
to my students when I acquire my own classroom, because I will be able
to incorporate these experiences into the curriculum,” said Powell.
Powell is a 2003 graduate of Northwest Pennsylvania Collegiate Academy
High School, Erie, and is the daughter of Robert and Kimberly Powell
of Erie.
 Raybuck, a sophomore elementary education major and music minor, intends
to use her scholarship to travel to Florence, Italy through the College
Consortium for International Studies. Raybuck will be participating
in an Italian Opera class at Lorenzo deMedici, the Art Institute of
Florence.
“Being a music minor along with my elementary education major,
Italian Opera would be the perfect addition to my minor requirements,” said
Raybuck. “While in Italy, I will be able to learn the culture
and history of the country, and how Italian musicians
are able to express themselves through their compositions of operas.”
Raybuck, a 2004 graduate of Keystone High School, is the daughter of
Kim and Glenda Raybuck of Knox.
The Vira I. Heinz Scholarship for Education
Abroad award is granted to three junior women students for summer
study and travel abroad. It is intended to enrich each student’s
academic program, provide opportunity to travel in a foreign country,
and improve international understanding.
The Vira I. Heinz Endowment is one of the Pittsburgh-based
Heinz Endowments, which support efforts to make southwestern Pennsylvania
a premier place to live and work, a center of learning and educational
excellence, and a home to diversity and inclusion. Committed to helping
its region thrive as a whole community—economically, ecologically, educationally
and culturally—the foundation works within Pennsylvania and elsewhere
in the nation to develop solutions to challenges that
are national and even international in scope. One of the largest and
most innovative independent philanthropic foundations in the country,
the Endowments awarded more than $57 million in grants in 2005.
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