| Scholarship and Grant Awards Programs |
| With a name that credits an oyster's beginnings, SPAT's mission is to foster interest in Wellfleet's shellfishery, support the Town of Wellfleet by educating the community about its aquaculture history, and award grants and scholarships to local individuals pursuing careers in shellfishing and related fields, or to those whose creative and educational work increases awareness of this important part of the community’s life. The non-profit organization sets aside proceeds from its annual festival, the Wellfleet OysterFest, to fund these scholarships and grant awards. |
| Scholarship Program |
| Each May, SPAT awards a $10,000 scholarship to a graduating Nauset Regional High School (NRHS) student pursuing four years of higher learning in aquaculture or a related field. The scholarship is distributed as $2,500 each year for the four years the student continues his/her studies. Students interested in applying for this scholarship should speak with their guidance counselors at NRHS. |
| 2009 |
Max Tringale of Orleans, Mass. |
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Tringale is going to boat-building school in Maine and plans to return to the Cape when he finishes his schooling so that he can build boats for shellfishermen and other seafarers who make a living in our waters. |
| 2008 |
Henry Valdez of Wellfleet, Mass. |
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Valdez attends Johnson & Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island, where he studies culinary arts and loves inventing creative new shellfish recipes.
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| 2007 |
Allison Baker of Wellfleet, Mass. |
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Baker will attend Boston’s Simmons College in the fall of 2007, where she will study public relations and marketing. She hopes to put her degree towards a marketing campaign to promote Wellfleet’s aquaculture industry. |
| 2006 |
Jacob Puffer of Wellfleet, Mass. |
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Puffer is currently a student at Boston’s Emmanuel College, where he is focusing on business courses to help him run his family’s aquaculture operation upon graduation. |
| Grant Awards Program |
| SPAT’s grant awards program provides funds to those whose creative or educational contributions increase awareness of the community’s shellfishing practices and traditions. Educational grants are awarded on an open rotating basis and are voted on at six annual board meetings. Individuals interested in applying for an educational grant award can download an application here. |
| 2008-2009 |
Nauset Regional High School (NRHS), Eastham, Mass. ($1,000) |
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In celebration of its expanding mission, SPAT is helping fund an outdoor initiative program at NRHS. The program allows students access to an outdoor experience to help "round out" their understanding of how and where we live within our environment. |
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The Parkington Sisters, Wellfleet, Mass. ($750) |
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SPAT gave these local singer-songwriters a grant award to help them take the stage at the Nashville Folk Alliance where they entertained audiences with their originals about Cape Cod and our seafaring traditions. While playing violin, cello, piano, mandolin and guitar, the sisters also share lead vocals with up to five-part harmonies. |
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The Wellfleet Pre-School, Wellfleet, Mass. ($2,500) |
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This community-supported early childhood education service lost its state funding and needed help in order to continue to honor its commitment to Wellfleet’s children and finish out the 2008-2009 school year. SPAT was proud to make an award to keep this essential service up and running. This pre-school will continue under the direction of a volunteer board of parents with Montessori-certified teachers and is now called Wellfleet Montessori Pre-School. |
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Wellfleet State of the Harbor Conference, Wellfleet, Masas. ($250) |
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This conference provides an excellent venue for researchers and the public to share new information, discoveries and studies vital to our harbor, the lifeblood of Wellfleet. This year, there will be presentations on local restoration projects, water quality and a 2009 river herring count. SPAT's contribution helps the conference produce its printed materials.
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| 2007 |
David Wright of Wellfleet, Mass. ($2,500) |
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Wright will work with the Wellfleet Historical Society to author a book that will act as a record of the enterprise and ingenuity of Wellfleet’s shellfishermen in building its aquaculture industry. |
| Shellfish Advisory Committee of Wellfleet, Mass. ($2,000) |
| The committee will conduct an awareness campaign, posting signage and distributing brochures that educate the public about water quality, clean beaches and “pick up after your pet” regulations. |
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| 2006 |
Abraham Storer of West Dennis, Mass. ($1,000) |
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To build on his original grant in 2004, Storer was granted additional tuition support to continue to pursue his interests in both art and shellfishing. Abraham’s drawings and paintings have been exhibited at the Wellfleet Public Library. |
| David Rowell of Wellfleet, Mass. ($3,000) |
| Rowell designed and constructed two unique park benches for Wellfleet conservation areas using concrete cast from oyster and clamshells and hand-hewn wooden rails made from locust trees. As part of his project, he taught student apprentices the traditions of this age-old construction technique. |
| 2004/05 |
Amalia Marie Aruda of Wilmington, Mass. ($500) |
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Aruda presented a slideshow at area schools that showcased the aquaculture practices involved in cultivating a market-ready oyster from its larval stage and created a poster exhibit for the library. |
| Karen Dowcett of Yarmouthport, Mass. ($1,000) |
| SPAT provided financial support for ten individuals to participate in Dowcett’s mask-making workshops in preparation for her comedic mask and puppet review, Cirque de Sea, which was performed at that year’s OysterFest. |
| Nate Johnson of Wellfleet, Mass. ($1,000) |
| Johnson, a local oysterman with a passion for conservation and an eye for photography, crafted “Faces and Lives of Wellfleet Waters,” a photo essay of the people behind commercial aquaculture. Johnson’s photographs have been exhibited at the Wellfleet Public Library. |
| Abraham Storer of West Dennis, Mass. ($1,000) |
| In support of his interests in both art and shellfishing, Storer’s grant went toward his tuition at Waltham’s Brandeis University, where he explored the images, emotions, smells and tastes of a lifestyle marked by the shellfishing industry. |
| Wellfleet Public Library, Wellfleet, Mass. ($1,000) |
| SPAT enabled the library to collect and purchase new aquaculture materials and literature, properly archive aquaculture films and improve access to these new materials through publicity and programs. |
Download the Spat Grant application