Chloe Duncan
The Lucketts Ruritan Club awarded $3,500 to Chloe Duncan toward her studies at NOVA/George Mason, where she will major in Environmental Science and Sustainability. Chloe graduated from Tuscarora High School with a GPA of 4.51, excelling in AP classes in U.S. History, Biology, Calculus, and Environmental Science. Her passion for learning and community service was apparent throughout our conversation. In addition to her scholastic achievements, which landed her on the honor roll 18 times, she was inducted into the National Honor Society as Vice President; served as the secretary for the Arts and Music Club, Vice President of Key Club, and President of the American Sign Language (ASL) Honor Society; and received a varsity letter in track and a sportsmanship award.
Many children learn languages such as French, Spanish, or Latin in high school, but very few learn American Sign Language or ASL. Chloe has signed from a very young age as a result of having a best friend whose parents are deaf. Dr. Love, the Tuscarora ASL teacher, recognized Chloe’s fluency and tapped her to be the first ASL interpreter for the school’s morning announcements and president of the ASL Honor Society. She successfully applied her ASL skills and taught a head start “hearing class” that was learning to sign to assist with language acquisition. She was also a peer buddy for the high school deaf community.
Another aspect of Chloe’s community service is her leadership as the Vice President of Key Club. Key Club is a service club that requires 40 hours of community service, mandatory participation, and attendance at every meeting. The club function is to identify a community need, coordinate volunteers, and provide assistance to alleviate the need. Because of Covid-19, direct interaction with the public became virtually impossible. As a result, Chloe and the other officers had to devise safe ways for the club to continue to serve and meet community needs. Some of the creative projects were food drives to collect and distribute food for the hungry, with the Lucketts Food Pantry one of the direct recipients. In addition, the club collected and donated hygiene products for the Loudoun Abused Women’s Shelter and coordinated volunteers to participate in the Arc of Loudoun’s main fundraiser, Shocktober.
Another aspect of Chloe’s high school career is that she is an accomplished guitarist. The Tuscarora Music teacher, Dr. Dunlap, selected Chloe to attend and perform a solo at the Festival for Strings at Yale University. This two-day intensive music experience brought musicians from around the country to jam, practice, and ultimately perform their solos. Although definitely out of her comfort zone, Chloe gave a great performance, which solidified her confidence as an artist.
Chloe also loves plants and the environment. While Covid prevented her from attending the Conservation Youth Leadership Institute, that did not stop Chloe from forging ahead with her own conservation efforts. She learned to propagate plants and constantly reminds her family about creative ways to ‘reuse’ water rather than running it down a drain. Ultimately, this love of the environment and Chloe’s optimism for the “greater good” sealed her choice of major in Environmental Science and Sustainability.
As the oldest child in her family, Chloe is used to being a role model. Her service within Tuscarora High School, the Lucketts community, and Loudoun County are solid examples of what it means to be an active citizen who acts locally but thinks globally. The Lucketts Ruritan Club could not be prouder to support Chloe in this next exciting phase of her life and we wish her the best of luck in her studies.
