Conservancy awards scholarship to local student

HONESDALE — The Lackawaxen River Conservancy has awarded its 2015 Scholarship for College Students to Carmen Francesco, who is entering her junior year at Prescott College in Prescott, Arizona.. She is a graduate of Honesdale High School, Class of 2013.

As guest of honor at a recent luncheon with members of the Conservancy Board of Directors, at which she was awarded the scholarship, Carmen shared pictures and highlights of her two-month internship in India. She was there under the auspices of Vidhayak Sansad, a non-profit organization that works for socio-economic empowerment in the Maharashtra region of India. Carmen taught English at a girls’ school there and helped her students create a vegetable and flower garden; she also wrote bios for each of the 230 girls attending the school.

Prescott College specializes in experiential education in the liberal arts, the environment and social justice. Carmen is pursuing a double major in Environmental and Social Justice, and Secondary History Education. During fall semester, she has an internship at the Church Center for the United Nations in New York, where she will be running campaigns and educational seminars for climate justice. She will carry her full complement of courses through independent studies, and will return to the Prescott campus spring semester.

Carmen has a deep commitment to protecting the environment. “Through education and enlightenment, we can halt some of the irreversible damage man is causing and focus on preserving and living compatibly with nature, not destroying it.”

The mission of The Lackawaxen River Conservancy is the protection and preservation of the Lackawaxen River, its watershed, the wildlife it supports, and its natural beauty.