Since 2001, the Zonta Club of Pittsburgh has partnered with the Pittsburgh Public Schools to honor a female high school junior, in each of the city’s high schools, who has overcome social, learning or health issues to become a better student and citizen. Each awardee is nominated by the high school’s social worker.
Amelia Earhart was inducted into the Zonta Club of Boston in 1928. She advocated the ide3a of developing opportunities for women to work and for men to take an interest in the home and caring for children. In her letter to President Roosevelt requesting the Navy’s cooperation in her planned around-the-world flight, she wrote: “Like previous flights, I am undertaking this solely because I want to and because I feel that women now and then have to do things to show what women can do.” It is in recognition of this spirit that we, the Zonta Club of Pittsburgh, honor female graduates from the city’s high schools.
An award luncheon is held and each awardee may bring her parents or guardians. Social workers and principals also attend. Each student can then apply for a scholarship during her senior year. Currently, the club offers a laptop computer to each student who is eligible for a scholarship. To date, Zonta Club of Pittsburgh has awarded over $60,000 in scholarship money.
