Women Honoring Women awards scholarships

Women Honoring Women recently awarded scholarships to three Bonner County area residents who are pursuing their post-secondary education. With so many qualified candidates who applied, it was not an easy choice.

Women Honoring Women is an organization that honors women 65 years of age and older who possess vision, a love of learning, a commitment to their community, leadership qualities, provide inspiration and exhibit grace in the face of adversity. As part of their mission, they also feel it is important to do what they can to encourage the younger women in Bonner County to pursue an education and support them on that journey.

This year, the scholarship awards were given to two graduating seniors and one woman who is continuing her post-secondary education.

One recipient, Corinne Capodagli, is a senior at Sandpoint High School and has made an impact on the lives of others. She credits her mom, dad and sister with encouraging her to follow her dreams. Corinne delivered a speech at this year’s North Idaho Women’s March focusing on inspiring youth to become involved in their communities, encouraging them to find their voice and to recognize the work women before them have done.

Corinne, who served as the editor in chief for the student-led newspaper, the Cedar Post, this past year, will attend Carroll College in the fall and major in special education and communications. With a weighted GPA of 4.346, there is no doubt that Corinne is dedicated to not only her studies but also her community and is sure to excel as she begins the next chapter in her life.

The second graduating senior to be awarded a Women Honoring Women scholarship for 2019 is Grace Shelton, a senior at Clark For High School. Grace shares that one of her goals in life is to inspire others, and she has certainly been off to a wonderful start. Grace was a member of the Positivity Ninjas Club at Clark Fork High School whose goal was to bring happiness to others in not only the school but also the community through acts of service. She has also served as a presenter and mentor at Girls’ Night In at Hope Elementary School, which provides fifth and sixth graders and their moms an opportunity to participate in informative and interactive workshops.

Grace suffered a knee injury last fall which ended all her athletic endeavors for the remainder of her senior year, something which could have left her feeling defeated. Instead, Grace attended every practice and game supporting her teammates every step along the way. “I made sure that my positive spirit continued to lift up every teammate,” said Grace. “It gave me back focus and revealed purpose I didn’t know was there.”

Grace will attend Carroll College in the fall where she will major in therapy, among the types she is considering are physical, occupational, equine and/or massage.

The third recipient of this year’s Women Honoring Women scholarship is Jennifer Hepinstall, whose goal of attending college and receiving a degree has been a lifelong dream, one she put on the shelf many times as she continued to care for her children. Working multiple jobs while being a single parent to her three children has been Jennifer’s life for the past few decades, and she is thrilled to now be pursuing a degree in social work and is a junior at Lewis-Clark State College.

Described by many as hardworking, compassionate, honest and driven, Jennifer has done much to touch the lives of others, including forming a homeless outreach mission which provides backpacks with essentials such as personal care items, warm clothing and nonperishable food for those living on the streets in places in the Inland Northwest.

For many students, scholarships received can make the difference in deciding not only which college to attend, but in some cases whether or not they will actually pursue or continue post-secondary education. Women Honoring Women is grateful to those who have contributed to the scholarship fund to make it possible for them to provide these opportunities to young women in the community.