Memorial scholarship fund supports travel for seven Harwood students

February 15, 2024  |  By Waterbury Roundabout 

The Launch Into Foreign Travel program supports student travel with scholarships in memory of Cyrus Zschau of Moretown. Courtesy photo

The local nonprofit Launch Into Foreign Travel program has announced that it has awarded $6,575 in scholarships to seven Harwood Union High School students traveling to Rwanda, Denmark and India this year. 

The goal of program – called L.I.F.T for short – is to inspire students to create lasting change by broadening their horizons through world travel and to foster a strong connection with other cultures.  

Harwood students currently are on a trip to Rwanda that runs into early March. In April, students groups will travel to Denmark and India. 

Since it was created in 2017, L.I.F.T has provided nearly $20,000 to Harwood students to support their educational travel.

L.I.F.T is supported by a memorial fund in honor of Cyrus Zschau, a Harwood junior who lost his life along with four friends in 2016 in a car crash. Cyrus had a love for travel and adventure and aspired to travel the world after high school.

Family members who organized the fund and scholarship program emphasize that the scholarships awarded in Cyrus’ memory provide Harwood Union students with a global perspective that can be life-changing, returning with insight, empathy, and ideas to create a more equitable, inclusive, and kinder world. 

Students interested in educational travel opportunities and can use a L.I.F.T. scholarship to attain that goal should contact the Harwood Union High School Counseling Department. 

Learn more about the L.I.F.T. program online at czlift.org. Those interested in supporting the program can make a tax-deductible donation there as well. Lift is also on Instagram at  instagram.com/liftupvt.