WALKS Scholars Named

The WALKS Foundation has named Westminster students Christopher Sailor ’11, Atesha Gifford ’12 and Ashlee Robinson ’13 as WALKS Scholars for the 2010-2011 academic year.

WALKS is an acronym for five Hartford area schools — Westminster School, Avon Old Farms School, Loomis Chafee School, Kingswood-Oxford School and Suffield Academy. In its 54th year, WALKS’ central purpose is to enroll in its five member schools, students from Greater Hartford whose horizons are limited by family income but whose talents, commitment and energies promise community leadership in the coming years.

Christopher Sailor, a returning scholar and a resident of Bloomfield, is an honors student and plays the saxophone, guitar, piano and drums in the concert band and the jazz band, for which he serves as president. He also participates in musical theater, Improv, Model United Nations and First Boys’ Soccer. He serves as captain of Track and Field and president of the Multicultural Student Union. He hopes to study engineering in college.

Atesha Gifford, a resident of Manchester, Conn., is an honors student, a Sorenson Pearson Scholar and a Steppingstone Scholar. She is a member of the Multicultural Student Union, the EcoTeam, the Cook Nook, Seniors as Sisters and Model United Nations. She also participates in field hockey and dance. Off campus, she volunteers at the Community Farm of Simsbury and at her local library. She hopes to become a corporate lawyer.

Ashlee Robinson, a resident of Hartford, is a Steppingstone Scholar and a Gummere Scholar. She participates in the dance ensemble, field hockey and basketball. She also is a member of the Multicultural Student Union, the EcoTeam and the Student Activities Committee.

In addition to the three WALKS Scholars, Kathryn Griffith ’11 was named a recipient of the Barnes Award in recognition of her volunteer service and leadership. She has participated in two Habitat for Humanity trips during spring break, volunteered for the annual Westminster Blood Drive, taken a leadership role in the annual MS Walk, helped organize the annual Christmas Angel Tree, and has given freely of herself to Westminster's participation in the Walk for the Cure, the Simsbury Food Bank and Foodshare, as well as numerous other efforts.

The students, along with a number of their family members, attended the annual WALKS Scholars luncheon Oct. 12 at the Hartford Club where Christopher gave remarks about the unpredictability of life. “You can choose and make your own path, but unexpected things can and will change and influence your course,” he said. “You can prepare for as many things as humanly possible, but there is always a possibility that something will go wrong, or right, outside of our human ability.” In closing, he said that he was speaking because of the path he chose four years ago. “All I saw was an opportunity, and I took it, without much hesitation or second-guessing. And the rest is left to whoever decides my fate.”