Lenkaitis receives P.E.O. STAR Scholarship

Charlotte Lenkaitis, daughter of Victor and Michelle Lenkaitis of Ames, Iowa, and granddaughter of Mary Beth Van Buer of DeKalb, has been awarded one of the P.E.O. STAR scholarships for the 2017-18 academic year. She was sponsored by P.E.O. Chapter IV in DeKalb.

The STAR Scholarship program was established by P.E.O. in 2009 to provide nonrenewable $2,500 scholarships for exceptional high school women in the U.S. and Canada to attend an accredited post-secondary educational institution. Out of 1,868 applicants this year, 520 recipients received scholarships.

The P.E.O. Sisterhood, founded in 1869, is a philanthropic and educational organization interested in bringing to women increased opportunities for higher education. The DeKalb chapter was organized in 1955.

Lenkaitis, a member of National Honor Society and the Ames High School Student Council, has excelled not only academically but also in community service projects. As co-chairwoman of the Ames High School Dance Marathon, she assisted in raising more than $15,000 for Stead Family Children’s Hospital at the University of Iowa. Last summer she spent three weeks in Uganda helping to build schools. Among her awards and honors are Borlaug Scholar, IJAS Grant Winner, Lamp of Knowledge Award and Wordmasters Award. She also participated in soccer, volleyball, basketball and tennis during her high school tenure.

Lenkaitis was honored with the USDA Wallace-Carver Fellowship and worked on an internship this summer at Iowa State University. She will attend the University of Iowa this fall.