Two Nantucket Students Win Full-Ride College Scholarships

04/29/2025

Many locals and visitors alike are unaware of the extreme generosity that the Nantucket Golf Club (NGC) shares with the Island of Nantucket. NGC’s founders and members do so much more than play a few rounds of golf. Supporting Nantucket's youth since 2002, they currently manage 90 student scholarships and counting for year-round residents. As a local office with a team of year-round families, Great Point Properties would like to applaud the members of NGC for changing the lives of so many students.

Original story from Nantucket Current

It was an unforgettable Monday night at the Nantucket Golf Club as Biliana Dountcheva and Cecilia Wendelken were named the 2025 Nantucket Scholars—that means a full four-year scholarship covering all tuition and fees to the college of their dreams, thanks to the incredible generosity of the Nantucket Golf Club Foundation.

The emotional announcement capped off the Foundation’s 20th year of changing lives through the Scholar program.

So, What’s Next?

Dountcheva has her eyes set on health science and will be heading to either Brown or Northeastern. Wendelken is diving into marine biology and small vessel operations at Maine Maritime Academy. These two were chosen from an impressive group of ten finalists—all Nantucket High School students with big dreams. The eight other finalists (who are also walking away with major partial scholarships) were:

• Adney Brannigan – Still deciding between Ithaca, UVM, and St. Michael’s for mental health or elementary education.

• Andrea Bunlerssak – Off to Wesleyan for economics.

• Viktoria Dimitrova – Headed to Fairfield to study finance.

• Elijah Holland – Will be exploring marine biology at William and Mary or USD.

• Boyan Kalpazanov – Enrolling in mechanical engineering at Virginia Tech.

• Maddie Lombardi – Studying sports psychology at Marist.

• Nora Sullivan – Going into business management at Endicott.

• Owen Sullivan – Studying biomedical engineering at RPI.

Celebrating Vocational Stars Too

The night also spotlighted the Foundation’s Professional Scholarship recipients—students planning to pursue further education in fields they began exploring in Nantucket High School’s vocational programs. Each will receive a generous partial scholarship. Here’s the full list of this year’s vocational champions:

• Conrad Burns – Electrical Engineering at Wentworth

• Hansen Dalton – Construction Management at Roger Williams

• Cecilia Gagnon – Special Education at Clemson

• Maddeline Muise – Elementary Ed at UNH

• Merlin Orellana Rivas – Nursing at UMass Dartmouth

• Martina Savova – Nursing at UMass Amherst

• Tinita Sirisophapong – Nursing at Simmons

• Curren Wiggin – Marine Engineering at Mass Maritime

• Rita Wood – Nursing at College of Charleston

• Samantha Zadroga – Nursing at URI or Sacred Heart

All 20 scholarship recipients were treated to some Nantucket Golf Club swag and got their moment in the spotlight as former superintendent Michael Cozort shared personal anecdotes about each one.

A Foundation That Keeps Giving

Last year alone, The Nantucket Golf Club Foundation raised a whopping $6.5 million, bringing their grand total to over $51 million since 2002. Their mission? To lift up Nantucket youth through scholarships, grants, and community support. Right now, they’re managing 90 scholarships—and counting.

A huge shoutout to the selection committees, including local legends like Tom Bresette, Michael Cozort, Alan Cunha, Peter Greenhalgh, Jonelle Gurley, and others who help make these dreams come true.