New Hope-Solebury Grads Receive Community Commendations

NEW HOPE, PA — Notable community organizations have honored several New Hope-Solebury graduating seniors, recognizing their commitments to history and science.

The New Hope Historical Society awarded Samantha Finch with the 2021 Francis Curley Scholarship for her exceptional civic engagement. Katharine Dougherty and Rylie Hepp, received Malcolm P. Crooks Scholarships from the Aquetong Watershed Association, acknowledging their great potential in studying the physical sciences.

Finch has been active in a program called Urbane Promise Trenton that provides free afternoon and summer camp programs for disadvantaged kids. She also founded a Pen Pal letter-writing program directed towards senior citizens in the community who needed special companionship during this past year.

“Samantha was selected to receive this year’s award based on her community activities, scholastic achievements and her desire to pursue a career in political science,” said Frank Policare, president of the Historical Society.

Scholarship Committee Chair Les Isbrandt said that the scholarship honors Francis Curley's contributions as a New Hope-Solebury High School teacher and director of the historical society, where he “fostered a greater public appreciation for New Hope’s rich and unique history.”

Dougherty plans to study earth science, and Hepp will pursue finance and sustainability policy.

“Katharine and Rylie were selected to receive AWA scholarships based on their scholastic achievements, community activities and their desire to pursue further education in the physical sciences,” said AWA’s president, Michael Zolkewitz.

The AWA established the Malcolm P. Crooks Scholarship in 2013 to be awarded to a civic minded senior who has displayed excellence in science and who plans to continue their formal education in the broad field of physical sciences.

“The scholarship honors Malcolm’s many outstanding contributions, regionally and nationally, which has fostered a greater public appreciation for conservation and the value in protecting the environment,” Isbrandt said. “Malcolm’s work in our community will forever serve as an excellent example of how one individual can make a lasting impact.”

Crooks formed the AWA in 2007 as an all-volunteer non-profit organization aiming to conserve, preserve and protect the natural resources of the Aquetong watershed. The watershed covers about eight square miles and drains its surface and ground water through Solebury Township and New Hope Borough to the Delaware River.

Finch is bound for California Polytechnic University, Hepp will attend Northeastern University, and Dougherty will attend Pennsylvania State University.

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