The scholarship submission window for the 2023-2024 school year will open January 3rd and close March 1st. 

2024 Scholarship Application - Applications due March 1, 2024

(ALL APPLICATIONS MUST BE SUBMITTED IN A PDF FILE FORMAT)

Vaughn Fletcher was a freshman at Marietta High School when he unexpectedly passed away while playing with his friends during his favorite Boy Scout overnight gathering.

Vaughn was born with heart defects, and throughout his life had several surgeries and procedures that he faced with great bravery and even humor. He had successfully recovered from the latest heart surgery, which was to be the last one for many years, so his passing was a tremendous shock to everyone.

Vaughn was a Life Scout with Boy Scout Troop 144 and lived all 12 points of the Scout Law in his everyday life. He also participated in numerous activities with Marietta City Schools, from Reading Bowl to chess club; most notably, he had a beautiful voice and was in the advanced chorus at every grade level. He also played piano and guitar.

Hawaiian shirts were a regular part of his family’s attire from the time Vaughn was little, as seen in his school pictures and on other special occasions. At an annual checkup with his cardiologist when he was 13, the doctor told Vaughn his heart looked good and the next surgery still wasn’t needed. Vaughn surprised his parents by asking the doctor if that meant he could go to Hawaii! The doctor said there was no reason not to, and that summer the family went on vacation to Oahu and the Big Island. Vaughn truly embraced the Hawaiian spirit: love, peace, and compassion that extend warmth in caring with no expectation to receive anything in return. It’s something you experience, your interaction with life, your passion, your joy; it’s a life force inside you. Aloha is engaging in acts of kindness, sharing the exuberance that is within you, and spreading that spirit to those around you. This was Vaughn.

While his physical heart may not have been perfect, his heart was filled with caring and joyfulness. Vaughn was always looking for ways to make everyone laugh or at least smile. (At times, apparently, his rubber chicken was an artful partner in that.) Vaughn was acutely aware of others in need and gave emotional support to those around him. He let people know he believed in them even when they didn't believe in themselves. Vaughn didn't get the chance to live a long life, but he made the most of his time here with us. He was smart, he was talented, he was funny. But the caring in his heart for others will always be what touched us most.

This scholarship fund was established by the Fletcher family in memory of Vaughn, the youngest son of Clint and Margaret, and younger brother of Austin as well as his sister and brother in Texas, Courtney and Cameron. The family is grateful to the Marietta Schools Foundation for their ongoing role in establishing, managing, and awarding this $1000, non-renewable scholarship each year to one college-bound Marietta High School senior who embodies the qualities Vaughn so freely displayed: joyfulness, caring, and lifting up others.

The Fletcher family’s desire is for the Vaughn Jobim Fletcher Memorial Scholarship to assist in the college education of a student from Marietta High School who will inspire Vaughn’s spirit of aloha in the world.

This year's first recipient is Kate Williamson, pictured with Margaret and Clint Fletcher, Vaughn's parents.