Earlier this year, on February 24, Carson Prey-Harbaugh ’25 passed away from complications from the flu and pneumonia.
Prey-Harbaugh displayed creativity, a love for the arts, and a passion for art, poetry, music, and fashion. She not only attended multiple art classes at Strath Haven but also furthered her creative knowledge by attending Moore College of Art and Design’s Young Artist Workshop in Philadelphia.
After learning about her passing, Managing Director of Continuing Education Meg Wolensky at Moore contacted both art teacher Mrs. Jennifer Rodgers, who formerly taught Prey-Harbaugh, and interim principal Mrs. Andrea LaPira. To honor Prey-Harbaugh and her creative ability, Wolensky proposed offering scholarships to Moore’s Young Artist Workshop to ten creative Haven students.
On December 4, there was an awarding ceremony for the scholarship, which Carson’s family, scholarship recipients, their families, and other faculty attended. At the ceremony, Rodgers recalled an email Wolensky sent her weeks ago.
“We know that she was thriving here at Moore, and we’d like to find a special way to honor her time with us. In Carson’s honor, Moore College of Art and Design would like to fund ten full scholarships for creative students from Strath Haven High School to attend our upcoming Spring 2025 Young Artist Workshop,” the email stated.
After hearing about the scholarships, Haven art teachers looked to select students from every grade who exhibited passion and creativity for the arts, just like Prey-Harbaugh did.
“I met with three other art teachers, and we talked about artists who are not only excellent at what they do but also are just really creative and inspired and have their own vision, which was the type of artist that Carson was,” Rodgers said.
The students awarded the scholarships included senior MJ Rosenberg; juniors Eli Graves, Pearl Tweedy, Fletcher Noto, Dylan Ching, and Amelia Badura; sophomore Maeve Raffaele; and freshmen Shannon Yue, Sophia Ford, and Noa Murley.
So, how will the recipients of this scholarship move forward to attend Moore’s Youth Courses?
“They were invited on a field trip on Tuesday, December 10. They are going to travel down to Moore, get a tour, learn about their programs, and check it out and decide if they want to attend,” LaPira said.
These classes run from February 1, 2025, to April 5, 2025 [ten weeks] on Saturdays. Students can choose from various art classes such as acrylic painting, ceramics, fashion, character design, and more.
Attending one of Moore’s Youth Courses typically costs $585, but this scholarship covers the full cost. This way, it will allow these students to gain more knowledge on art in a course they may not have been able to afford.
The generosity of Moore allows Prey-Harbaugh and her creativity to make an impact by giving other students similar creative opportunities she had. Because these scholarships were given, the Strath Haven community can work through the loss of a beloved student and turn it into something Carson would have loved to know she was a part of.
“It’s an incredibly touching, bittersweet thing,” Rodgers said. “Carson was very much part of the art department here and clearly made an impression at Moore. This opportunity is a way for us to work through our grief and loss and honor Carson’s memory by doing something that she very much loved doing, which was making art.”
