ROCKLAND — The Island Institute has awarded scholarships to 58 island students pursuing post-secondary education at colleges, universities, and technical schools across the United States and Canada. The scholarships, made possible by the Island Education Fund, totaled $50,900. Students from 10 of the 15 year-round, unbridged islands received awards, which are renewable for up to four years of post-secondary education. Of these students, several received special named awards as follows:

• Imogen Moxhay (Smith College) of Peaks Island and Taylor Littlefield (University of New England) of Vinalhaven received renewal awards for the Louis W. Cabot Academic and Community Leadership Scholarship. This award is given to a student who exemplifies academic excellence and who is recognized by peers, teachers, and the community as personifying the true spirit of leadership in service to others. 
• Autumn Johnson (Bowdoin College) of Islesboro and Vinalhaven students Gilleyanne Davis-Oakes (Bates College), Polina Walsh (University of Maine at Orono), and Trevor Farrelly (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute) received the Sweet Scholarship, awarded to a graduating senior who exemplifies a combination of academic excellence and leadership. 
• Eric Conrad (Dalhousie University) of Peaks Island received the Seth Jordan Memorial Fund Scholarship, awarded to a graduating MAP high school senior of high academic standing in Casco Bay. Mentoring, Access, and Persistence, or MAP, is an Island Institute program that provides island students with leadership training, monthly webinars, college and scholarship application assistance, and a college peer mentor to help support them in their academic pursuits.
• Annika Rogers (Dartmouth College) of Islesboro received the Peter and Philip Scholarship, awarded to a graduating MAP high school senior of high academic standing from a Penobscot Bay or Downeast island.
• Vinalhaven students Amber Shane (University of Maine at Orono) and Ashlyn Littlefield (Thomas College), and Islesboro students Kashmir Owen (Northwestern University) and Alexander Howell (Villanova University), received the new Maine Island Scholarship, which supports high-achieving island students who demonstrate a high level of commitment to their academics, extracurriculars, communities, and development as leaders.
• Hannah Noyes (Connecticut College) of Vinalhaven received the Otter Island Scholarship, awarded to a graduating senior who exemplifies academic excellence and is pursuing an undergraduate program at one of the following schools: Connecticut College, Colorado College, Duke University, Texas Christian University, University of Utah, or Vanderbilt University.

Additionally, 13 students who participated in the Island Institute’s inaugural Mentoring, Access, and Persistence (MAP) program will be receiving a MAP Scholarship, renewable for up to four years of post-secondary education. They are: Cheyenne Bickford (Vinalhaven, University of Maine at Farmington), Raven Bradenday (Peaks Island, Colby-Sawyer College), Eric Conrad (Peaks Island, Dalhousie University), Rowan Daligan (Peaks Island, St. Joseph’s College), Gilleyanne Davis-Oakes (Vinalhaven, Bates College), Paige Dennison (Vinalhaven, Husson University), Deja Doughty (Vinalhaven, University of Maine at Orono), John Holt (Long Island, Wentworth Institute of Technology), Alexander Howell (Islesboro, Villanova University), Ashlyn Littlefield (Vinalhaven, Thomas College), Annika Rogers (Islesboro, Dartmouth College), Amber Shane (Vinalhaven, University of Maine at Orono), and Shyanne Waterman (North Haven, Washington County Community College ).  

The Island Institute also accepted eight high school juniors from four islands into its second MAP cohort. Congratulations to Emeline Avignon (Long Island), Josiah Hansen (North Haven), Emily Lau (Islesboro), Keaton Lear (Vinalhaven), Zalea Rich (Long Island), Mikael Stone (North Haven), Rosie Train (Long Island) and Lily Warren (Vinalhaven). Based upon national research, MAP combines post-secondary scholarships with wraparound support services in an effort to support students to persist through post-secondary graduation. In addition to scholarship support, students will have access to a summer leadership intensive, monthly webinars, a peer mentor, and individualized support from Island Institute staff. MAP programming kicked off in March with a training for students and their families and will continue in July with a three-day leadership intensive. 

For more information on the MAP Program and other scholarship and transition support offered by the Island Institute, visit http://www.islandinstitute.org/program/community-development/scholarships. 

The Island Institute is a 35-year-old nonprofit  based in Rockland that works to sustain Maine’s island and remote coastal communities by strengthening community economies, enhancing education and leadership, and sharing solutions. For more information, visit http://www.islandinstitute.org.