Los Alamos scholarship honors three seniors headed to college
Three Los Alamos High School seniors each won $1,000 for college, as the Mikey Aslam Scholarship reached its 11th cycle and kept local help flowing.
Three Los Alamos High School seniors each picked up a $1,000 Mikey Aslam Scholarship and a little more breathing room for college: Madalyn Baily is headed to Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, Dayja Fellers plans to attend Lewis and Clark College, and Gus Ovaska will enter Barrett Honors College at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona.
The awards landed at a time when college bills, housing and other expenses can quickly overwhelm families trying to launch a graduate into the next phase. Baily will study biology and exercise science, Fellers hopes to pursue pre-med, and Ovaska plans to study business data analytics, a spread of majors that shows how the scholarship reaches students moving toward science, medicine and business careers.
This was the 11th scholarship cycle for the program created by Champions of Youth Ambitions to honor the memory and service of Mikey Aslam, a Los Alamos High School graduate and Eagle Scout who died in October 2022 at age 20. Tariq Aslam said the applicant pool was exceptionally strong and difficult to judge because so many candidates were active in the community and volunteered extensively.
That emphasis on service has defined the scholarship from the start. Earlier descriptions linked the award to the values Mikey Aslam lived by, including faith, friendship, community, education, commitment and service, and to the WEB and Link Crew motto, “Students Helping Students Succeed.” The first recipients were Isaac Gao and Maia Cannon in 2023, followed by Xiaran Jonathan Chen, John “Jack” Dunwoody and Martin Sayre in 2025.
The scholarship has become one more thread in Los Alamos’ web of support for graduating seniors. Last year’s Los Alamos High School senior scholarship ceremony recognized 125 local scholarships, underscoring how many community groups, families and donors step in to help students move on. A later report said the Mikey Aslam Scholarship had already helped send eight students to college.
For the Aslam family, the award is tied not only to Mikey’s memory but to the service he carried into town life, including his Eagle Scout project of building raised planter garden beds at the Betty Ehart Senior Center. After 11 cycles, the scholarship has settled into a familiar role in Los Alamos: turning grief into practical help for seniors ready to leave home and begin college.
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