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Heller creates scholarship to help St. Marys High School students

Katie Heller, 26, is a 2010 graduate of St. Marys High School and a 2014 graduate of West Virginia University with a bachelor’s degree in strategic communications.

ST. MARYS — The Katie Heller Scholarship for Public Service and Advocacy was created to help a graduating senior from St. Marys High School in his or her pursuit of a college degree in government, non-profit, or advocacy.

Ryan McFarland, a recent graduate of St. Marys High School, is the first recipient of the Katie Heller scholarship, awarded on May 24. He will be attending the University of Charleston.

The fund is set up through the Pleasants Community Foundation and will award an applicant a one time amount of $1,000 to go toward tuition and related fees.

“In addition, I aim to provide mentorship to the recipient by helping them build a network in-state and find internships and opportunities that will help them gain experience in their desired career path,” Heller said. “I find that the networks I’ve built through volunteer and extracurricular activities were the most invaluable in establishing my career in the public sector,” she said.

Heller, 26, is a 2010 graduate of St. Marys High School and a 2014 graduate of West Virginia University with a bachelor’s degree in strategic communications.

Heller said that politics and public service is a path she wouldn’t have pursued had it not been for growing up in West Virginia.

West Virginia fosters a deep sense of pride in its culture and resilience, Heller said. “It instills in you the fundamentals of public service and the understanding that we all have a responsibility to fight for our people,” Heller said.

“Since my current career has moved me out of state, this scholarship is my way of maintaining a connection with West Virginia and investing in its future by identifying young leaders who have the passion and ability to move our state forward,” Heller said.

After working on the 2016 presidential campaign, Heller said, she set off on a few personal adventures to expand her education of the world and diverse cultures.

Between November 2016 and March 2017, she traveled to Italy and Spain, spent 10 days in Cuba between Havana and Trinidad, then began a two-and-a-half-month expedition through Southeast Asia, touring Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Myanmar (Burma), Singapore, and ending with a couple weeks in the Maldives, an island nation in the Indian Ocean.

In June 2017, Heller moved to Los Angeles where she works for the City of Los Angeles as part of Mayor Eric Garcetti’s executive operations team.

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