Heavenly honors Lake Tahoe area high school grads with scholarships

Heavenly Mountain Resort at Lake Tahoe honored five recipients of the Heavenly Mountain Resort Community Scholarship Program at a luncheon Wednesday at Tamarack Lodge, located at the top of the Heavenly Gondola.
For the ninth consecutive year, Heavenly Mountain Resort awarded $4,000 scholarships to five recent high school graduates, bringing the resort’s overall commitment to the Heavenly Mountain Resort Community Scholarship Program to $180,000. The scholarships are designed to help further the education of local area students.

“The scholarship program is an important part of our effort to give back to the community and support our local kids,” said Pete Sonntag, Heavenly general manager. “These students have worked hard, and we are proud to be able to assist them as they pursue higher education.”

Sonntag and other representatives from Heavenly met with both new and old Heavenly scholarship recipients to celebrate the pursuit of higher education. The group met at the bottom of the Gondola in the Heavenly Village at 11:00 a.m. and stopped at the Mid-station Observation Deck for photos before continuing to Tamarack Lodge for lunch.

Sixty-nine students applied for this year’s scholarship. The 2012 scholarship recipients include from South Tahoe High: Tanner Burghard (San Diego Community College), Jacob Stowell (Undecided) and Anna Tikhomirova (UCLA); from Douglas High School: Cora Moody (Marion Military Institute); and from Whittell High School: Nina Jimenez (Stanford). To date, Heavenly has awarded 55 scholarships.

The Heavenly Mountain Resort Community Scholarship Program was established to assist qualified high school seniors with annual financial support to help offset the expense of a college education. Five scholarships are awarded each year to seniors coming out of Whittell, South Tahoe and Douglas County high schools. The Heavenly Mountain Resort Community Scholarship Program is part of Vail Resorts Echo, Vail Resorts’ corporate giving program focused on offering charitable support to qualified non-profit organizations committed to improving the lives of youth and protecting the amazing environment in which Heavenly is set.

2012:
Tanner Burghard, San Diego Community College
Jacob Stowell, Undecided
Anna Tikhomirova, UCLA
Cora Moody, Marion Military Institute
Nina Jimenez, Stanford

Previous recipients still receiving scholarships include:
2011:
Sierra Bertolone Smith, Lewis and Clark College
Tiffany Racz, Cal Poly, SLO
Jessica Levine, UC Santa Cruz
Allyson Woods, Cal Poly, SLO
Althia Torres-Monzalo, UNR

2010:
Lauren Andrew, UNR
Walker Higgins, University of Washington
Ashley Killeen, UC Santa Cruz
Catherine Kushner, UC San Diego
Chelsea Wightman, Santa Barbara City College

2009:
Danyelle Heidt, Biola
Edna Meza, UNR
Alexandra Graham, University of Oregon
Hannah Kropf, SDSU
Amy Wilson, Cal Poly (SLO)

Photo information: L-R: Athalia Torres-Monzalo (2011 recipient), Anna Tikhomirova, Nina Jimenez, Heavenly GM Pete Sonntag, Tanner Burghard and Cora Moody pose for a photo on the Mid-station Observation Deck at Heavenly Mountain Resort. (Credit: Heavenly Mountain Resort)

About Heavenly
Heavenly Mountain Resort is a world-class destination offering guests a one-of-a-kind combination of scenic beauty, exhilarating on-snow experience and nightlife unmatched in the ski industry. Heavenly is a subsidiary of Vail Resorts, Inc., the leading mountain resort operator in the United States. One of the largest resorts in North America, Heavenly spans 4800 acres, climbs to Lake Tahoe’s highest elevation at 10,067 feet and features 97 trails for every level of skier or snowboarder. For more information on Heavenly Mountain Resort, please visit www.skiheavenly.com or call 800-HEAVENLY.