Five Darien Students Receive CT REALTORS Raymond F.Gates Scholarship

CT REALTORS® FOUNDATION AWARDS $54,000 IN SCHOLARSHIPS -
2022 RAYMOND F. GATES JR. MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS ANNOUNCED

DARIEN, CT June 6, 2022 – The Connecticut REALTORS® Foundation announced their 2022 Raymond F. Gates, Jr. Memorial Scholarship winners. The Raymond F. Gates, Jr. Memorial Scholarship Fund was established in 1976 in memory of Raymond F. Gates, Jr. following his tragic death in an automobile accident. Mr. Gates was the Executive Vice President of the Connecticut REALTORS®. Over the past 46 years, children of REALTORS® have been awarded scholarships totaling more than $1,000,000.

For the 2021-2022 academic year, the Connecticut REALTORS® Foundation received more than 100 applications. This year, 62 outstanding children of CT REALTORS® were selected to receive a total of $54,000 in scholarships.

The Darien Board of REALTORS is proud to announce five local recipients were among the 62 selected:

John Gatt is in his final year at the University of Florida and is majoring in Economics. After graduation he plans on attending law school to become a corporate lawyer working in either real estate litigation or intellectual property law. While he was in high school, he led his class in several fundraising activities and was a leader in several clubs including B Kind and Unified Sports. John is the son of REALTOR® Meghan Gatt with William Raveis.

Beau Hancock graduated from Darien High School this year and will attend Washington and Lee University in the fall. In high school, Beau excelled at football, playing Varsity for three of the four years. His team won State Championship his senior year. In light of the pandemic, Beau has played an integral part in helping to give his community access to area events via video, from being a cameraman to director. In 2020, he was awarded theNationalAcademyofTelevisionArtsandSciencesStudentExcellenceAward. Beau is the son of REALTOR® Julia Hancock with Houlihan Lawrence.

Stella Meier graduated from Darien High School in June. In the fall, she will attend Brigham Young University where she plans to major in Molecular Biology with a minor in Women's Studies. Last year, Stella attended the Yale Discovery to Cure medical conference where she learned that infertility issues are often a side effect of current gynecologic cancer treatments. She was also an intern at Weber Lab at Brigham Young University where she helped to create an antibody-mediated therapy against HPRT, a cancer antigen. Eventually Stella wants to combine her passion for cancer treatments and the female reproductive system by pursuing a career in gynecological oncology. Stella is the daughter of REALTOR® Darleen Meier with Houlihan Lawrence.

Alexandra Spataro is a 2022 graduate from Darien High School and in the fall will pursue a degree in Education with a minor in History at Gettysburg College. With plans to become a high school History teacher, Alexandra wants to get a Master’s degree after college. The captain of her school’s Varsity swim team, she has been on the team her entire high school career and plans to continue to swim while in college. In addition to being a competitive year-round swimmer at Chelsea Piers CT and teaching swim lessons, Alexandra is in four National Honor Societies and is a CT Scholar Athlete. Alexandra is the daughter of REALTOR® Lauren Spataro with Houlihan Lawrence.

Lily Donzeiser is a 2022 graduate from Darien High School. In the fall she will attend the University of California, Berkeley where she plans to major in Environmental Sciences. Earlier this year she took 4th place at the Connecticut Junior Science and Humanities Symposium at UConn Health and was a presenter at the National Junior Science and Humanities Symposium in New Mexico. While her plan is to eventually earn a PhD, she hopes to become a scientific researcher or focus more on renewable energies. Lily is the daughter of REALTOR® Michelle Donzeiser with Compass.