DPIE Announces 2022 Scholarship Winners

DPIE awarded $7,000 in scholarships to four outstanding seniors from Dublin High School this year. Georgia Zannis and Acacia Tripplett, were the two graduating seniors awarded the $2,500 Edy Coleman Scholarships for their academic excellence and outstanding records of community service. Taylor Elias and Mason Glines received the $1,000 Haggerty Nursing, Paramedic and EMT Scholarships and plan to pursue careers as first responders.

Edy Coleman Scholarship

This is the 5th year in a row that DPIE has awarded two Edy Coleman Scholarships to Dublin students who reflect Edy’s spirit and passion for community service.  The scholarship was founded by the DPIE Board in honor of Edy who passed away in 2017 for her long-time commitment to DPIE and the Dublin community at large.

Edy often said, “not all lessons are learned in the classroom and when you pursue a life of service, you often receive more than you give.”

Acacia Tripplett

Acacia is a young lady on a mission and at a young age you could already identify her as a community activist who “wants to put good into the world.” When she spoke with DPIE, she shared that her ultimate goal is to become a US Senator and she’s already laid out plans to make that happen.  Having graduated from Dublin High with a 4.0 gpa, Acacia will be attending George Washington University in Washing DC in the Fall where she will major in Political Science and then plans to attend law school to study constitutional law.

She wants to be a lawyer, but her ambitions go beyond the courtroom as she plans to pursue her interest in politics and will be hunting political internships in DC during her time as an undergrad. She shared that she has spent time speaking to Dublin Mayor, Melissa Hernandez and Congressman, Eric Swalwell and has learned that the best politicians are the ones “who have a passion for helping people,” and she describes that passion as “the root of great leadership.”

Acacia was involved with the Black Student Union at Dublin High during her four years there.  She also served as a Diversity Ambassador helping to break down walls to open communication and founded the “Our Dublin” organization which raised enough funds through the sale of T-shirts. The funds raised were enough for the organization to offer two $2,000 scholarships to graduating seniors over the last two years. She is described by Dublin High administrators as someone who is “driven, well-spoken and follows through.” Along with her love of community service, she enjoys both drama and psychology which she acknowledges will be of great help to her as a budding politician. 

Georgia Zannis

Having just graduated from four years at Dublin high with a cumulative gpa of 4.29, Georgia is headed to UC Berkeley this Fall, where she will use her time to “feed my desire to explore science and heal others through science and its why I will pursue a career in healthcare.”

Georgia admits that she is “obsessed with studying science.” But she recognizes it was her passion for dance and an injury she incurred to her foot in her freshman year that was the springboard for her love of science. Unable to practice dance and faced with a looming deadline for the freshman science project, she decided to focus her energies on designing footwear that would help solve her foot problems and allow her to dance again.

Many hours of physical therapy did not improve the ripping pain she felt in her foot when trying to dance. Over the next month she researched, designed and used her sewing machine to design 8 pairs of shoes that served as a brace and alleviated her foot problem.  As a budding scientist, she had dancers test and rate her shoes and used that information for her science project, which won the Dublin High science competition and placed her third in the Golden Gate STEM fair. But more importantly to Georgia, “dancers are benefitting from my braces.”

Inspiration comes from many places and we expect that Georgia’s passion for science and problem solving will serve her well as she moves on to her studies at Berkeley.

Scott Haggerty Scholarship

Two $1,000 scholarships were awarded to graduating seniors, Taylor Elias and Mason Glines. The Haggerty Nursing, Paramedic and EMT Scholarships are named after the former District 1 Alameda County Supervisor, who endowed these scholarships with a $50,000 endowment donation to DPIE two years ago.

When making the donation Mr. Haggerty said, “I have great respect for the men and women who work on the front lines every day and do their best to save lives. I hope these funds help deserving students pursue their dreams to help others.”

Taylor Elias and Mason Glines Win Haggerty Scholarships

Taylor and Mason are this year’s recipients and are headed to college to pursue careers in the healthcare industry. Both Taylor and Mason expressed a great desire to help people and make a difference in times of need.

This Fall, Taylor who graduated with a 3.54 cumulative grade point average, is headed to the University of Nevada where she will enter the nursing program.  Mason, who finished with a 3.45 gpa at Dublin High, is headed to either the University of New Haven in Connecticut or the Metropolitan University in Denver, where he will pursue a degree in science with a double minor in Emergency Management and Paramedicine.

Both Taylor and Mason sited difficult experiences with family and friends as motivating forces in their desire to help others.

Taylor said that helping care for her grandfather who suffered from dementia and diabetes was a major motivational force for her. “As his dementia worsened it required lots of caretaking. I would go to his home and make sure he took the medicine he needed and help with his many physical episodes. After his passing, I came to realize how much I was able to help him and I realized that I feel my best when I’m helping others.” 

Mason Glines and Michele Haubert - DPIE Board Member

Mason shared that he felt “helplessness” when he and a friend were on a backpacking trip and his friend fell and shattered his wrist. He said, “I found myself standing there, not knowing how to help my friend and that’s when I decided I wanted to make a career out of helping those in need. My favorite class during school was the Emergency Medical Response course, which I took as part of the ROP (Regional Occupation Program). Our teacher is an EMT and she was able to use real-life examples in her teaching that made me realize I can make a difference in the lives of people who need help.”

DPIE wishes all four of this year’s scholarship winners much success in the years ahead and we congratulate them for their success and achievements at Dublin High School over the last four years.

If you would like to donate to the DPIE Edy Coleman and Scott Haggerty Scholarship Endowment Fund, please just CLICK HERE to make your contribution.