Islander Paula Trepman is one of only 18 American students chosen to attend the prestigious summer science program at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, one of the world’s foremost centers of scientific research and graduate study. Trepman applied for the 41st annual Dr. Bessie Lawrence International Summer Science Institute (ISSI) to pursue her passion for genetics. ISSI, a four-week, intensive science exploration, affords students the opportunity to work with world-renowned scientists conducting actual, ongoing research. Over the past year, Trepman interned in a drosophila genetics laboratory in the Genome Sciences Department at the University of Washington.

Mercer Island teen Lauren Prince is a volunteer with the Seattle AMIGOS Chapter for a service project in Latin America. For six to eight weeks this summer, Prince will join more than 700 other teenagers and young adults from throughout the United States and other countries to volunteer on public health, education and environment projects in the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama and Paraguay.

Volunteers will live with host families and work in small teams on community development projects.

Matt Fry, son of John and Karin Fry, will receive his diploma on June 24 from Brentwood College School, located in Mill Bay, British Colombia. He completed his sophomore year at Mercer Island High School in 2007 before transferring to Brentwood. Matt reportedly plans to take a year off before enrolling at Colorado College, in Colorado Springs, Colo.

The National Merit Scholarship Corporation recently announced that Steven M. Diamond was awarded an annual scholarship award worth $2,500. Diamond plans to use the scholarship for studies in the career field of scientific research.

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