Child of AFSCME Council 26 Leader Wins Scholarship

(AFSCME Council 26)

Katherine Porzel, the daughter of Walt Porzel, Council 26 Secretary and Local 3925 President (U.S. Department of Agriculture), won an AFSCME Family Scholarship for $2000 per year for four years of college. Ms. Porzel was one of thirteen winners out of approximately 600 applicants. She is currently a senior at George Mason High School and plans to attend James Madison University in the fall.

In her essay, Katherine spoke of going to work with her father on Take Your Daughter to Work Day and the important role that unions play outside the workplace in supporting families. She says that she wants to be a high school English teacher, but noted that the teachers in her high school are underpaid and overstressed because they are not represented by a union.  She believes that union representation can solve these and other problems faced by teachers and all workers.

This is the second time in less than a year that the child of an AFSCME member won a union scholarship. Last summer Danna Thomas, the daughter of Duane Thomas of Local 1509 (Federal Aviation Administration) won an AFSCME Advantage Scholarship.

We wish her good luck in college and in her future career. We are sure that she will never forget the important role that unions play in the lives of working families.