Scholarships

The Mark Baumer Sustainability Fund Announces

The Mark Baumer Greely Memorial Scholarship for Student Athletes

The Mark Baumer Sustainability Fund will award one $1,000.00 scholarship each to two outstanding student athletes with demonstrated involvement in community volunteerism and activities.

The applicant must meet the following requirements:

Must be a graduating Greely HS student.
Must have been accepted by an accredited non-profit postsecondary institution within the United States and Canada.
Must have an 85 GPA for the last 7 HS semesters.
Must have participated in sports on a varsity team during HS.
Must have taken part in community service/volunteerism/ school activities to make this world a better place.

To be considered, an application must be completed in ink, entirely legible, and signed by the applicant. It must be received prior to the deadline and include ALL supporting documents.

Application requirements:

A completed signed completed application form.
All information requested must be included with the application.
A one page personal statement signed by the applicant that includes plans for your education, goals for the future, personal accomplishments, and why you are applying for this scholarship. Please include any unique financial or personal circumstances.
Two letters of reference from someone who knows you well. One will need to be from a teacher/coach/principal/guidance officer (not a relative).

Applications must be returned to the Greely guidance department on their deadline date.

Scholarship recipients will be notified on Greely Class Day.
Payment of scholarship award will be made directly to the postsecondary college or university at the end of the first academic semester.
Funds must be requested by June 30, 2022
Please note: Changes in enrollment to a different postsecondary institution other than the one listed on the application will void the scholarship.

Who was Mark Baumer and why is there a scholarship fund in his name?

Mark graduated in 2002 from Greely. He was an honor roll student and played baseball and hockey. Mark went on to Wheaton College and played division III baseball. In 2005, he was named First Team All-New England, leading the Wheaton Lyons in home runs, RBIs, while batting .350. Mark’s senior season, the Lyons played in the 2006 Division III World Series in Appleton, Wisconsin, losing in the finals.

In 2009, Mark was accepted into Brown University’s Masters of Fine Arts Program in Literary Arts. This was a life changing event for Mark, allowing him to pursue poetry and performance art.

In 2010, Mark walked across America for the first time. He walked from Tybee Island, Georgia to Santa Monica Beach in California in 81 days. Prior to that, he had actually hitchhiked cross-country upon graduation from Wheaton with a high school friend during the summer of 2006.

In 2012 Mark began working at Brown University’s Rockefeller Library. He became involved in labor negotiations representing works as part of the United Service & Allied Workers of Rhode Island as a union shop steward. He was also engaged in environmental activism and focused on social justice issues.

In 2015, he was won the Quarterly West Novella contest for his work Holiday Meat.

In 2016, Mark was awarded a poetry fellowship from the Rhode Island State Council for the Arts. The fellowship allowed him to ask for and be granted an unpaid leave to walk across America to raise awareness about climate change.

Mark began his walk across America in early October 2016. Every day he would blog, post videos, and write poetry. He was killed shortly after chronically his 100th day on the road when he was struck by an SUV that veered onto the paved shoulder where he was legally walking. Mark was 33-years-old.

Mark seized every opportunity and maximized his all-too-short time on this earth.