The Sunflower Initiative launches its second decade by awarding not one, but two, Harriet Fitzgerald Scholarships for 2021. Julia Rademacher-Wedd, of Chicago, Illinois, and Kennedi Malone, of Fayetteville, Georgia, will each receive a scholarship for 2021. Although from different geographical areas and different backgrounds, Kennedi and Julia have chosen to attend the same women’s college.
Agnes Scott College will have the good fortune to welcome our two Fitzgerald scholars to the Class of 2025.
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Julia Rademacher-Wedd
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Julia Rademacher-Wedd is one of our two 2021 Harriet Fitzgerald Scholars. Julia graduated in 2020 from Whitney M. Young Magnet High School in Chicago with a superb academic record in honors and AP classes. After taking a gap year during the Covid-19 pandemic, she will attend Agnes Scott College in Fall 2021.
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Although Whitney Young is an arts magnet, Julia’s balanced course of study included early completion of calculus and plenty of work in the sciences, along with history, literature, and politics.
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Julia also sang in the chorus and danced 20 hours a week on top of taking the most demanding dance classes offered at the school. She both danced and choreographed for Whitney Young's best competitive dance team.
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During high school she was so deeply moved by the violations of human rights that she saw during a school trip to the Arizona-Mexico border that she wrote an essay that won an award from the Kemper Human Rights Foundation. She has also been named an AP Scholar with Distinction, a National Merit Commended Scholar, and an Illinois State Scholar.
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Julia says that she deferred enrollment at Agnes Scott College in order ”to support elementary school students who did not have the option to take a gap year while everyone figured it [remote learning] out.”
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During 2020-2021 she is volunteering for Americorps in the public schools, helping fourth-graders with math and social-emotional learning. She is also volunteering as Legislative Outreach Coordinator for Parole Illinois, which is devoted to winning parole for people subjected to long-term incarceration.
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Julia says, "[A]t Agnes Scott, I hope to grow in my capability to transform society through compassionate relationships and bold calls for justice.”
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Kennedi Malone
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Kennedi Malone is one of our two 2021 Harriet Fitzgerald Scholars. Kennedi will graduate this spring from McIntosh High School in Peachtree City, Georgia with both academic and leadership honors and an excellent academic record. She will attend Agnes Scott College in Fall 2021.
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The TSI scholarship committee was impressed by Kennedi’s maturity during the interview process. Her self-described strengths of “precise organization, clear communication, empathetic leadership” are evident in her many academic achievements. She has received awards in Spanish, World History, English, and Science, and she has been named an AP Scholar with Distinction.
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A member of her school’s STEM cohort, Kennedi has served for all four years of high school as her class’s representative to the STEM program, which includes community-based projects and symposia, as well as coursework not only in chemistry, physics, and calculus, but also engineering and microbiology.
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Kennedi's junior-year research project investigated the efficacy of sound therapy for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder and hypersensitivity. She also developed a deep love of world history and art history and incorporated these subjects into her rigorous schedule with 9 AP classes.
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Kennedi is the co-founder of @StayConsciousMedia, through which she hopes to educate and engage her peers to a greater understanding of social justice issues in marginalized communities. Kennedi curates topics, prepares readings, and hosts weekly peer-led Zoom discussions.
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As a minority student in a majority white high school community, Kennedi’s efforts affirm her motto, “If I am to improve the quality of my life, I must amplify my voice instead of worrying about who will try to silence it.”
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