MCABW Awards 12 Senior Scholarships

CONROE, TX – –The 12 th Annual MCABW Foundation awarded by The Montgomery CountyAssociation of Business Women (MCABW) funds scholarships for twelve female high school seniorsattending school in Montgomery County. Although there was not an in-person event this year, sufficientincome was raised through the benevolence of many sponsors to continue the scholarship program.Each of the selected high school seniors was awarded a $1,000 scholarship and are recognized for theirachievements. The scholarship committee received 62 applications from throughout MontgomeryCounty high schools based on community engagement and academics. The ladies are required to beacademically at the top of their class, actively involved in their school and send in letters ofrecommendation with their application.The MCABW Foundation, is a 501c 3, non-profit organization awarding over 86 college scholarships inthe past 12 years to graduating female seniors of Montgomery County High Schools. Most of the youngladies awarded scholarships from MCABW were first generation college students and have a greatfinancial need.MCABW was founded by Carol Gooch in 2005 and will be celebrating their 16th anniversary this August.Carol was proud to add the Scholarship Foundation 11 years ago.“Each year MCABW awards college scholarships to female seniors graduating from Montgomery Countyhigh schools. The young ladies must apply with their academic scores as well as academicaccomplishments, and their community and/or volunteer activities. The young ladies also have a fewessay questions to answer, and they must submit 2 letters of recommendations.  We are as excited asthe seniors to announce the MCABW 2021 scholarship recipients”, said Gooch.The ladies awarded scholarships came from 8 local high schools throughout the county -Caney Creek,Conroe, Grand Oaks, Infinity Early College High School, The Woodlands College Park, The WoodlandsHigh School, and Willis High School.The Scholarship Recipients, their high schools, and prospective higher learning schools are as follows (Recipient, High School, Future School):
• Shivani Damu, The Woodlands High School, University of Texas
• Sydney Dwyer, Grand Oaks High School, University of Texas
• Paige Holmes, The Woodlands High School, University of Houston
• Michaela Paris, Hynds Infinity Early College High School, Lamar University
• Berenice Lopez, Caney Creek High School, Texas A&M University
• Kailey Null, Conroe High School, Texas Women’s University
• Carla Reyes Ortiz, The Woodlands College Park, Texas A&M University
• Akshara Ramasamy, The Woodlands College Park, University of Texas
• Damaris Sanchez, The Woodlands College Park, Sam Houston State University
• Paulina Sanchez, Caney creek High School, Lone Star College Montgomery
• Eliszabeth Van, The Woodlands College Park, Texas Tech University
• Madyson Vaughn, Willis High School, Texas A&M University“As a former school teacher and school counselor, education is very important to me, and it gives megreat pleasure to have MCABW award scholarships to young ladies who want to further theireducation.” Carol also stated, “I want to thank all the sponsors that helped us award 12 scholarships thisyear to deserving female graduates of Montgomery County high schools.“As also a mental health therapist I saw many women involved in domestic violence. It became apparentto me that women need to be able to provide for themselves. The MCABW Foundation assists youngladies with an opportunity to further their goals to be financially independent.”The Presenting Sponsor is Amazing Windows Cleaners, a women-run business started last year duringCovid-19 by Sonya Brazeal and her husband. Additional sponsors include M.D. Anderson Cancer Center,Congressman Kevin Brady, Dawn Candy of I Promote You, Dr. Shelley Sekula-Gibbs of The WoodlandsTownship, Clarity Hearing, Guaranty Bank & Trust, Conroe’s Incredible Pizza, Sheriff Rand Henderson,Gullo Ford, 5Point Credit Union, Bayway Cadillac of The Woodlands, Taylorized PR, Amber ReynoldsBookkeeping, Becky Glass Insurance, Randall Reed Planet Lincoln Ford, Leigh K Freeman Attorney atLaw, and Constable Ryan Gable, Precinct 3. Additional Friends of MCABW sponsors are listed on thewebsite: www.mcabw.org/2021-sponsors.MCABW is a local forum for area businesswomen to serve the community and to help grow theirbusiness. Carol Gooch founded the association in 2005 and the ladies have been serving the communityfor 15 years with membership topping 200 women. MCABW will bring the community together toinspire, support and empower each other while giving back to those in need in Montgomery County.They are your local business sorority.MCABW dues are $100 annually including a profile listing in the online directory, a calendar of events ofall local business opportunities and 6 events each month to network your business and get to know eachother. Those events include: a monthly business evening mixer, a monthly business network luncheon atIncredible Pizza, a monthly business coffee meeting at the Chamber of Commerce in The Woodlands andat the Chamber of Commerce in Conroe, a Montgomery business luncheon at Pizza Shack Montgomery,and a monthly business dinner at Citizens Grill. Dates and times are listed on the website or underEvents on the MCABW Facebook page.Other programs include Professional Development and Personal Growth through the Peers OfferingWomen Engaging Relationships (POWER) Mentoring program. Members mentor other members infinance, social media, managing staff, marketing, and stress management.Throughout the year MCABW contributes to the Scholarship Fund with prize raffles the 4 th Tuesday ofthe month at Incredible Pizza for lunch and the First Wednesday of the Month at Pizza Shack-Montgomery for lunch. Every bit of the money raised goes to the scholarship fund. Ladies are welcometo attend 2 events as visitors before deciding to join MCABW.