Lodi teen wins STAR scholarship from PEO
Emily Hickingbottom, a new graduate of Lodi High School, was the winner of a prestigious STAR Scholarship from PEO International.
The $2,500 scholarship is awarded each year to a young woman headed off to college.
Hickingbottom was selected by the SH Chapter of PEO — one of two Lodi chapters — as their nominee, from among several excellent local students. Then, she was chosen from nearly 2,000 other students to win the award.
“She won the scholarship based on her excellence in academics and leadership,” said Dorana Prohaska, a member of the chapter. Her record of community service was also a mark in her favor.
“Someone in our chapter wrote a beautiful letter about her,” Prohaska said.
The letter describes Hickingbottom’s accomplishments:
• She was on the yearbook staff from her sophomore through senior years of high school, serving as head editor her final year. In that role, she directed a staff of 25 students.
• Hickingbottom has been a volunteer at the St. Mary’s Dining Room in Stockton, and the Girl Up Club, which helps to support a local women’s shelter.
• After becoming interested in construction, she volunteered with Habitat for Humanity, assisting in their building projects.
• She participated in school clubs like choir, Key Club and Storm Drain Detectives, along with volunteering as a tutor.
• She gives swimming lessons to young children.
It was that last activity that led her to show her character, the letter said.
“(Hickingbottom) also collaborated with the local Child Protection Agency when a child in a swim class divulged abuse to her,” the SH Chapter wrote in the nomination letter. “This was a significant event in her own maturation.”
To celebrate Hickingbottom’s selection for a STAR Scholarship, the SH Chapter held a tea and invited her to attend, along with her mother Linda Hickingbottom, PEO member Kathryn Siddle said.
There, they presented her with the certificate announcing her scholarship.
Hickingbottom plans to attend the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Since its inception, PEO — which stands for Philanthropic Education Organization — has awarded more than $304 million in scholarships. The organization also supports Cottey College, a liberal arts and sciences college for women.
PEO’s mission is to support and promote educational opportunities for women.
For more information about PEO, visit