On July 7, 2017, the American Foreign Service Association (AFSA) Scholarship Fund will bestow on 24 Foreign Service high school seniors the 2017 AFSA Merit Awards– all of which are children of AFSA members. Recipients receive $2,500 as winners,$1,000 as honorable mention winners, and $500 commended art winners. The prizes total $45,500 this year. AFSA received a total of 105 applications in this year’s competition.

Below you will find short biographies on the Art Merit Award winners, the Best Essay Award winner, and the Community Service Award winner.

Click here to view the Academic Merit Awards winners and honorable mentions winners.

For more information on the AFSA Scholarship Program, visit www.afsa.org/scholar.

Grace Thompson

Art Merit Award Winner - $2,500 / Creative Writing

Grace Thompson — daughter of Dean (State) and Jane Thompson; graduated from American International School of Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania; attending Miami University; and awarded the Louis C. and Valeria Hebert Memorial Art Merit Award (Creative Writing). Click on the links below to read Grace's creative writing submissions.

• But Injure My Heart
• Fallen Blood (Excerpt - Ch. 11)

Jarrah May

Art Merit Honorable Mention Winner - $1,000 / Visual Arts

Jarrah May — son of Kent (State) and Melanie May; graduated from Redondo Union High School, Redondo Beach, California; attending Temple University – Tyler School of Art; and awarded the AFSA Art Honorable Mention Award (Visual Arts). Click on the links below to view Jarrah's visual arts submissions.

• Communication Tenets
• District
• Feds Feed Families
• Pen and Paper Foundation
• Trans Bathrooms

Lillian Bills

Art Merit Commended Award Winner - $500 / Performing Arts

Lillian Bills — daughter of Thomas (State) and Rebecca Bills; graduated from International Community School of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; attending Brigham Young University; and awarded the AFSA Commended Art Merit Award (Performing Arts). Click on the links below to view Lillian's performing arts submissions.

• Our Town
• High School Musical

Ian Boly

Art Merit Commended Award Winner - $500 / Visual Arts

Ian Boly — son of Richard (State-Retired) and Wendy Plummer Boly; graduated from Walt Whitman High School, Bethesda, Maryland; attending Virginia Commonwealth University - School of Arts; and awarded an AFSA Commended Art Merit Award (Visual Arts). Click on the links below to view Ian's visual arts submissions.

• The City
• Fenghuang
• A Man with His Wits About Him
• Path of Needles
• Rama and Dharma

Jules Levy

Art Merit Commended Award Winner - $500 / Musical Arts

Jules Levy — son of James Levy (State) and Bonita Shuen; graduated from George Mason High School, Falls Church, Virginia; attending George Mason Unversity; and awarded an AFSA Commended Art Award (Musical Arts). Click on the links below to listen to Jules's musical arts submissions.

• Chairs and Tables
• The Whisper

Katrina Sliter

Art Merit Commended Award Winner - $500 / Visual Arts

Katrina Sliter — daughter of Dr. Karen (APHIS) and David Sliter; graduated from International School of Brussels, Brussels, Belgium; attending Bennington College; and awarded an AFSA Commended Art Award (Visual Arts). Click on the links below to view Katrina's visual arts submissions.

• Beach
• Blue Gal
• Dancin
• Falling Lady
• Over the Shoulder

Claudia Amadeo-Luyt

Linda K. Fitzgerald Memorial Community Service Award Winner - $2,500

(see bio below)

Claudia won the community service award based on the following activities she participated in while in high school.

• Club founder, teaching assistant and volunteer at Shining Hope for Communities (SHOFCO) which is a non-governmental organization (NGO) focused on improving opportunities for residents in Kibera, Kenya (East Africa’s largest informal settlement).
• Interning for state of New York’s Assembly Member Daniel O'Donnell (D-Manhattan) to assist in improving the lives of its constituents.
• Founder of “Unity Made with Love,” an organization to help Ebola-affected children by making and selling bracelets to show unity in a crisis.

Claudia Amadeo-Luyt

Best Essay Award Winner - $500

Claudia Amadeo-Luyt — daughter of Stefanie Amadeo (State); graduated from United Nations International School, New York, New York; attending Barnard College, Columbia University; and awarded an AFSA Academic Honorable Mention Award, the AFSA Best Essay Award and the Linda K. Fitzgerald Memorial Community Service Award.

Click on the link below to read her winning essay submission.

• An American Thanksgiving Abroad