Optimist Club of Greater Vienna – The Sheryl Friedley Scholarship for Student with Intellectual Disabilities (2024)

In 2019, the Optimist Club of Greater Vienna established the Sheryl Friedley Scholarship for students with Intellectual Disabilities.  This scholarship is funded by a generous donation from Sheryl Friedly, a long-time member of our organization, and a retired Communications professor at George Mason University.

Last year's recipient was a Bishop O'Connell graduate who went on to the EXCEL program at Georgia Tech.

Please note our two primary requirements: 

• Students must have a documented Intellectual Disability.  Other disabilities, such as autism, do not qualify. For the purpose of this scholarship, an Intellectual Disability (ID) will be defined as per the Virginia Department of Education definition, and as it appears on the FCPS web site:

https://www.fcps.edu/academics/academic-overview/special-education-instruction/procedural-support-disability-categories

• Students must live in the area served by the Madison/Marshall/Oakton high school FCPS pyramids as verified by the FCPS boundaries used in the FCPS school locator tool at: https://boundary.fcps.edu/boundary/

Students that meet the qualifications are encouraged to apply during the application window, which is April 1 - May 6.  Questions and requests for an application can be directed to idd@optimistclubofgreatervienna.org.

Thank you and good luck!