Western Springs Garden Club Scholarship 2012 Winner: Michael Payne

The Western Springs Garden Club has announced the recipient of its annual scholarship, a $1500 award, as Lyons Township senior Michael Payne, a resident of Forest Hills in the Village.

Payne, an Eagle Scout with Troop 117 out of , plans to study environmental science at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb. He is a member of Lyons Township’s recycling and rock-climbing clubs and a regular participant with leadership camp Operation Snowball.

The Western Springs senior has participated in a number of outdoor clean-ups, both with Scouts and with annual the Western Springs N.E.A.T. clean-up day. He said he took an interest in the environment through various Scouting outdoor experiences and through a LTHS class he took in the fall.

“I’ve seen some environmental degradation through my years of camping and just being a human being, and I saw some stuff we can easily change in this world,” Payne said. “We’re going to have to nowadays.”

Payne’s Eagle Project, completed last year, involved a collection drive for the Hinsdale Humane Society. He said he wants to strive towards a career of protecting the world’s woodlands and natural resources, either as a park ranger or as an educator.

“I’m really thankful to the Western Springs Garden Club for congratulating me with this scholarship,” Payne said. “It will be incredibly helpful in my college years.”