The Navy League is proud to announce the Navy League 2023-2024 scholarship award winners. These students come from families of sea service veterans and excelled in both academic achievements and extracurricular activities before attending college.
We are able to award these scholarships thanks to the generous donations our foundation receives. All of our scholarships go toward the children or grandchildren of sea service members to help offset the cost of attending a university.
John J. Schiff Sr. Scholarship
Kolbe Lange is our top scholarship applicant for 2023. He is the oldest son of Navy LCDR Joshua Lange. Homeschooled his entire life, Kolbe lived in Colorado, Iowa, Virginia, Texas, Sicily, California, and Connecticut. Some of his more memorable high school extracurricular experiences involve scouting, 3D-printing, language designing, board-game development, and employment at a local plant nursery. He was a regional scholar for the Classical Learning Test (CLT) 10, an alternative to the PSAT. In addition, he published a short story for the CLT journal after he scored as one of the top forty students for one of the sessions of the regular CLT exam. Kolbe gained recognition on Saddleback Community College Dean’s list after he excelled in their dual-enrollment classes.
Kolbe will attend the University of Mary this Fall.
United Armed Forces Association Scholarship
Andrew Shelton is a rural Missourian who comes from a long line of sea service members. His father was a naval chaplain, serving beside Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard units in the Naval Reserves. His grandfather flew A-6 intruders and other aircraft in Vietnam with the Marine Corps. Growing up, Andrew admired the devotion these men had for the sea services and their country.
In school, Andrew participated in clubs such as Speech Team, Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA), and Science Club. In Speech, he won several conference and district championships, and last year competed at nationals in dramatic interpretation after taking first at the national qualifier. As a prospective business major, he joined FBLA, where in his first year, he won 1st place in organizational leadership at the district and state contests and proceeded to win 7th at nationals. Although not competitive, he has been similarly active in Science club. As club president from 10th-12th grade, Andrew implemented a middle school science fair, an annual primary school STEM Day, and a community observatory night. Altogether, he provided programming to more than 750 people.
Andrew will attend Pomona College in the coming school year. He intends to pursue a double major in computer science/business management with a minor in Spanish. This combination will allow him to follow his dreams of creating revolutionary products that will benefit the world while enabling him to work with and engage a significantly larger portion of the world’s population.
Subic Bay-Cubi Point Scholarship
Mitchell Frahm has always had an attraction and love for participating in competitive sports, ever since he started playing youth soccer at age 5. He is the son of a former Marine who served with B Company Marine Barracks Subic Bay in the Philippines. The lessons his father learned in the Marine Corps carried on to Mitchell in his daily life, both in sports and school.
For the next nine years, competitive soccer became a daily part of Mitchell’s life. At the age of 14, he started playing for the Cedar Rapids Inferno, a semi-pro team in Iowa that is a part of the USPL league. He overcame many obstacles while on the team and earned the respect of his teammates who became his mentors. He continued playing at the semi-pro level for an additional two years with another Iowa team, the Iowa Raptors FC. In 2021, he joined his high school football team as a kicker, earning an invitation to Kohl’s National Scholarship Camp in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. He competed against the top kickers in the nation, receiving a 4 out of 5-star rating. During this past football season, Mitchell became one of the top 3 kickoff specialists in the state of Iowa for class 5A and received multiple college offers.
Mitchell will attend Cornell College to pursue a degree in business management and play college football as a kicking specialist. His dream is to be a successful business professional in a sports related business and continue playing football professionally.
Harold Wirth Scholarship
Taylor Bonar’s father served in the Navy for about four years. Taylor loves volunteering at a local animal shelter with her sister, where they walk dogs, socialize, and spend time with them outside of their kennels. She competed with the Varsity Swim Team for all four years, and the Varsity Tennis Team for the past three years. Outside of sports, Taylor also volunteered at the parish associated with her school, where she cleaned the gardens over the summer, and played her flute for Sunday Masses throughout the year. She also participated in band or choir classes since fifth grade and joined the Glee Club in high school. Her achievements include being a part of the National Honor Society and the Cabrini Ambassadors, also known as the welcoming committee for new students. She received several class awards each year in high school, along with being on the Honor Roll every year, and earning the Knights of Columbus All Catholic Scholar Award for two consecutive years.
Taylor wants to work in a hospital or private practice as a physician assistant and hopes to make strong friendships with her future colleagues. She will be attending the University of Detroit Mercy in the Fall.
Congratulations to these excellent students from sea service families. We wish them and all our former scholars the best for their continued education.