Five Students, Five Paths: Celebrating EWoW’s 2026–27 Scholarship Recipients

As the air gets cooler and students settle back into the rhythms of another school year, Education Without Walls is taking a moment to shine a light on five young people whose individual paths capture so much of what makes the EWoW community special.

Each year, EWoW awards more than $40,000 in scholarships to new and returning students, helping make an individualized, relationship-centered education accessible to more families. Behind those scholarships are students with very different interests, experiences and ideas about where their lives might lead.

This year’s scholarship recipients include artists, writers, filmmakers and future scientists—five students following distinctly different paths and discovering what comes next.

Lena: Finding Her Story Through Film

Before coming to EWoW, Lena wasn't sure traditional ideas about school—or even what it meant to be a “good student”—fit her.

After several years of homeschooling and time at Webb Youth Services' Education Program, WYSE, Lena entered EWoW's Bridges Program and began to see herself differently: not as someone who couldn't learn or was simply “bad at math,” but as a capable student with her own strengths, interests and way of learning.

During her first year at EWoW, Lena received multiple awards, including the Lionheart Award and the $1,000 Coughlin Family Scholarship for Peer Support.

“Before EWoW, I thought I was just bad at school, especially math. Being here helped me realize that I can learn; I just needed to find the way that works for me. I also found people I belong with, and that's made me more...me.”

Now entering her official freshman year after completing the Bridges Program, Lena is turning more of her attention toward film. She’ll be working on a student film this year and is already imagining where that interest could take her, including a dream of one day studying film at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.

Rio: Letting Art Lead the Way

Rio also came to EWoW through WYSE as well and joined the Bridges Program last year. During his first year, he received multiple awards and was selected for the $1,000 Coughlin Family Scholarship for Peer Support.

There is an especially meaningful story behind that scholarship: Rio nominated his classmate Lena for the award, while Lena nominated Rio. Ultimately, both students received scholarships—a reflection not only of what each brings to the EWoW community, but of their ability to recognize and champion those qualities in one another.

As Rio continues his education at EWoW, one thing is already clear: art will be part of his future.

Exactly what form it will take is still unfolding. Architecture, fine art and music are all possibilities for a student whose creativity refuses to fit neatly into a single category. Rio has his sights set high, including the possibility of one day studying at Yale, while giving himself the space now to discover where his natural affinity for art will lead him.

Arwen: Creating Her Own Education

This fall, EWoW welcomed New Milford student Arwen, recipient of the Community Campus Scholarship, a merit scholarship created to give a local student access to EWoW's innovative community campus model, where learning extends far beyond four walls.

From the beginning, the EWoW staff was impressed by Arwen's ability to advocate for herself and articulate what she needs in order to learn, grow and thrive. That self-awareness and willingness to find her own path are at the heart of the EWoW experience.

And now that we've had the opportunity to get to know Arwen, we've discovered just how many directions that path might take.

Arwen is deeply creative. She loves to sew. She loves to cook. This year, she's exploring herbalism and advanced German. She approaches learning with the instincts of a maker—curious about materials, processes and what she can create with her own hands.

At EWoW, she has the room to follow those interests, discover new ones and shape an education around the person she is becoming.

Hudson: A Young Writer With a Story Ahead

At 14, Hudson doesn't need to know exactly where his story is heading.

In fact, that's part of the excitement.

A recipient of EWoW's creative writing scholarship, the Newtown student is pursuing advanced creative writing coursework this year, developing a talent and interest that already stand out while still having plenty of time to discover where they might lead.

That's one of the opportunities an individualized education can offer: the ability to take a young person's interests seriously now without requiring them to have their entire future figured out.

For Hudson, the page is limitless—and all the possibilities are ahead of him.

Cam: Looking Toward the Ocean—and Graduation

For Cam, this year brings a milestone: graduation.

The Roxbury student has been part of the EWoW community since 10th grade, growing into the kind of student whose curiosity, warmth and presence shine throughout the school community.

Now a senior and scholarship recipient, Cam is looking beyond EWoW toward a future studying marine biology.

After years of learning in a place built around curiosity and individual interests, he'll spend this year preparing for what comes next—and giving the EWoW community one last year with one of its brightest lights.

Five Students. Five Different Directions.

Film. Architecture. Fine art. Music. Sewing. Herbalism. Creative writing. Marine biology.

There isn't one version of what an EWoW student looks like, and there isn't one path students are expected to follow when they leave.

That's the point.

Scholarships help make that kind of education possible for more young people. They give students access to a community where their interests can be taken seriously, their strengths can be discovered, and their futures don't have to look exactly like anyone else's.

We're incredibly proud to invest in these five students—and even more excited to see where they go from here.