The Community Foundation of SLO County announced Grace Shirley as this year’s recipient of the Jennifer Thoma Memorial Ballet Scholarship. Shirley, 15, is an honors student at Templeton Independent High School and plans to use the $2,500 scholarship to attend the Alonzo King Lines Ballet’s intensive summer program in San Francisco from July 8 to Aug. 2. She currently studies ballet at SLO Movement Arts Center.
“I am very grateful to have been chosen,” Shirley said in a press release. “I appreciate that they have recognized my growth over the years and thank them for helping me to achieve my goals.”
The scholarship is named after Jennifer Thoma, a longtime SLO resident who passed away from cancer in 2012. Her husband, Bill Thoma, and their two children, Jeff and Jessica, established the scholarship to honor her passion for dance. The scholarship has been awarded to nine dancers total since its inception.
“My wife devoted herself to dance in so many ways,” Bill said in the release. “She would be so proud that her dream became reality and honored such deserving dancers.”
More information on the Jennifer Thoma Memorial Ballet Scholarship is available online at cfsloco.org. Δ
This article appears in Spring Arts Annual 2019.