Tanner’s legacy: Scholarships awarded to members of Tanner Jeans’ high school class

Published 3:25 pm Tuesday, April 28, 2015

The Tanner Jeans Memorial Foundation Board of Directors and the Jeans’ family recently awarded scholarships to the University of Washington to Mount Si High School seniors Sean Hyland and Nicki Mostofi.

The scholarships were created to provide a Valley boy and girl from Tanner Jeans’ graduating class with a four-year, paid-tuition scholarship to the UW. The scholarship was open to students in the Mount Si High School and Two Rivers High School classes of 2015.

Students completed a rigorous application process for the award and were screened by an independent review board contracted by the foundation to make final recommendations.

Selection criteria included: Participation in community and high school or extra-curricular activities; character recommendations from teachers, coaches and counselors; written statements from the applicants on their reasons for applying and abilities to represent Tanner’s legacy at the UW; financial need; grades and admission test scores.

Approximately 24 students from the Snoqualmie Valley applied.

Sean Hyland, center, with family members Ryan, his father Brendan, mother Kathy and Christen and Brian Jeans of the Tanner Jeans Memorial foundation.

Hyland plans to study business or engineering and Mostofi plans to study pharmacy with a minor in Spanish. Both had exceptional grade-point averages and admission test scores, plus extensive community and high school participation.

Hyland played receiver/defensive back on the high school football team and set records on the school track team. He is the Treasurer of the Associate Student Body and has received the highest academic awards at Mount Si since 2011. He owns his own lawn care business and is a frequent volunteer for Mount Si Food Bank.

Mostofi is a four-year member of the Mount Si cheerleading squad and is captain of the competition cheer team. She provides tutoring services to students in the Valley. She will be a third generation University of Washington student, following her grandfather, father and uncle. As a member of the cheerleading squad, she has been an active volunteer at the annual Tanner Jeans Memorial Foundation and Snoqualmie Police Department bike safety rodeo.

The board and the Jeans’ family are proud to recognize these two students. These awards are a tribute to Tanner who was killed in a bicycle accident June 23, 2004, at the age of 7.

For additional information, contact Christen Jeans at (425) 396-5235 or Laurie Gibbs, board president, at (803) 622-6308.