Bianca Chirrick from John Burroughs High School, and Ava Casey and Diya Patel from Burbank High School, have each been awarded the Dellinger Scholarship for the 2025-2026 school year.
The Dellinger Scholarship honors Judith and Ernest Dellinger – beloved members of the Burbank community who have generously supported Burbank students, arts programs, and community activities, both during their careers and after their retirement. The “pay it forward” inspiration for the scholarship was a natural result of the acts of love and compassion modeled by the Dellingers over the years.
Before retiring in 2005, Mrs. Dellinger was a teacher at Emerson Elementary School and in the Burbank Unified School District for 36 years. She was known for always incorporating music, creativity and kindness into the unique classroom environment she created.
In 2015, ten years after her retirement, as students from Mrs. Dellinger’s last class were about to graduate from high school, Mrs. Dellinger announced that she and Mr. Dellinger had set aside the funds to help each student from that class attend college. This remarkable gift was yet another lesson for her students. It led the students and their families to the idea of establishing the Dellinger Scholarship to assist hard working Burbank Unified School District graduates who value education, demonstrate a high level of academic achievement, engage in community service, and emulate the Dellingers’ generous spirit.
Since its inception in 2017, the Dellinger Scholarship has been awarded to 21 students. Evan Mehta, one of Mrs. Dellinger’s first graders in 2005, presented this year’s awards on behalf of the Dellinger Scholarship committee.
For more information about the scholarship: www.cfverdugos.org/dellinger-scholarship-fund/
About the recipients:
This year’s recipients stood out for their hard work, determination, and dedication to serving their communities.
Bianca stood out, not just with her extensive work experiences, college courses, and leadership positions in clubs and teams on campus, but she turned her passion for clean water and ocean conservation into doing good in the community both near and far. She impressed the scholarship committee with her desire to bring positive changes to the world.
Ava has been described as a hard worker with a “positive and curious attitude that surpasses nearly all of her peers”. In addition to hundreds of hours of community service, she played basketball for four years, took rigorous courses, was involved in numerous clubs and tutored others. She stood out among the applicants with her heartfelt description of her efforts to advocate against gun violence and provide a safe place for victims and their families.
Diya is a student who clearly excelled in the classroom and in advanced placement and medical academy endeavors, and took time to assist classmates. Her interest in neuroscience drove her to lead a neuroscience club on campus, to work in a doctor’s office, and to compete and place highly in a national level neuroscience competition, all while serving as a community leader who inspired success in others.
