The Amputee Coalition of America (ACA) announced that Cady Tescher, 18, of Glendora, California, is the 2010 recipient of the $1,000 Christina Skoski, MD, Scholarship. Tescher will be honored during a gala dinner at the ACA 2010 National Conference in Irvine, California, on Saturday, August 28.
Based on her conviction that limb loss should not be a barrier to academic or professional success, Skoski established the scholarship through a $25,000 scholarship fund last year, according to an ACA press release.
“On behalf of the Amputee Coalition, we are very pleased to announce Cady as the recipient of this prestigious award,” ACA President and CEO, Kendra Calhoun, said. “Not only has she excelled academically, but Cady is a remarkable young woman who has dedicated her life to helping others. She regularly visits children in the hospital who are facing amputation, and she serves as a role model for her peers. Cady embodies the definition of the Christina Skoski scholarship.”
Tescher is an honors student who was born with a congenital limb difference that resulted in a below-knee amputation when she was eight-months old. She serves as executive vice president for the Glendora High School Associated Student Body, and she is the commissioner of the high school’s Pep Club. An active member of the Make-a-Difference Club, she has collected clothes for the homeless and has participated in many cancer walks. Tescher has been a member of the ACA since early childhood.
Tescher will be attending Azusa Pacific University, California, where she plans to pursue a degree in teaching or child development. She said her “main goal is to help all children, not just those with disabilities, and to enrich their lives by helping them achieve what they might think is impossible.”