The Citizens Environmental Council (CEC) has awarded scholarships of $3,000 to Jayden Wan and $1,000 each to Shayna Blum and Sydney Chen, all 2025 graduates of Burlingame High School (BHS). These students enrolled as freshmen in the Youth Climate Ambassadors, a collaborative county-wide program sponsored by the San Mateo County Offices of Sustainability and Education, CEC and Peninsula Clean Energy. They continued to volunteer for a wide variety of other sustainability initiatives on and off campus, while compiling excellent academic records. All three received the BHS Jefferson Award for Public Service this spring.

Jayden Wan served on the San Mateo Union High School District Sustainability Committee and with Silicon Valley Youth Climate Action, and he interned with the City of Burlingame’s Department of Sustainability, among many other activities.He is particularly interested in the climate impact of the built environment, and he has advocated with several local cities to enhance building codes to eliminate methane in new buildings. He has won awards for architectural design and will attend Stanford University to pursue studies in architecture and urban planning.

Sydney Chen has worked on multiple projects to reduce waste and, in particular, eliminate single-use plastic food ware and water bottles. She interned with Sustainable San Mateo County and worked with a wide range of environmental and philanthropic organizations. She will attend Northwestern University, where she plans to explore an interdisciplinary program of environmental studies.

Shayna Blum won “Best in Show” in the CEC Student Film Festival during her sophomore year with a film on renewable energy and followed up by giving presentations on clean energy and the carbon footprint to more than 250 students in grades 5-8. She interned with the Burlingame Sustainability Department and served as president of the BHS Cascade Climate Action Club, where she organized guest speakers, fundraisers and beach cleanups. This fall she will begin a major in Environmental Studies at Bates College.

This is the 10th year that CEC has presented scholarships to graduates of BHS to honor their past efforts and future promise to maintain a livable planet. “We were amazed this year to see so many candidates with extensive volunteer and leadership experience,” said CEC board member Mike McCord, one of the judges. The CEC Scholarship is supported by community donations and a grant from the Morris Smith Foundation, Sterling Franklin, Trustee.