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2023-24 Mary Mross Public Policy Scholarship Awardee Anne Klaus, DSHA '25

4/2/2024

FALL SEMESTER 2023 OF THE WORD MAGAZINE | by MOLLY SHEA

Established in 2013, the Public Policy Scholarship at DSHA honors retired DSHA Social Studies Faculty Mary Mross. Retiring in 2001, she taught for over three decades with a passion for American government and civic engagement. This scholarship is given annually to one student for use during junior or senior year who best articulates her position on a designated public policy issue facing her generation. A new question prompt is given each year during the application process. Essay submissions are reviewed blindly by a committee of alumnae and a winner is selected on merit.

For the 2023-24 award, applicants were asked to compare and contrast the speech of Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky to Congress in 2022 to another moment in history. The award-winning essay by Anne Klaus, DSHA ’25, examined Winston Churchill’s address to Congress during World War II, “a unique and thoughtful parallel” according to Lauren Dedinsky Maddox, DSHA '82.

“Anne is a very good writer and thinker—one the best writers I’ve taught,” shares Social Studies Faculty Chris Weiss, DS ’70. “She exudes a love of learning. She has a curiosity about what she studies for the sake of understanding past and current global issues.”

Weiss calls Klaus a standout student. Due to her outstanding skills as a writer and academic success in her social studies classes, she was able to take both AP US History and AP European History a year earlier than most students who choose to take these college-level courses. “I love the lectures in these classes,” Klaus shares. “In AP Euro [this year], Mrs. Weiss keeps the lectures so interesting. You feel like you are actually there. She doesn’t just share info; there is story-telling and emotion in her delivery. You can’t help but want to learn more.”

Klaus considers her social studies classes to be an “important and realistic thing to learn,” helping her to “see connections between history and why current things are, and why they came to be.”

Additionally, Klaus credits her social studies classes for honing her writing skills alongside of her DSHA English classes. “Mrs. Weiss has taught me how to get direct and to the point,” she shares. “She has helped me learn how to turn facts into something people want to read; how to bring emotion and depth to what I write.”

Klaus is just a junior and already thinking about her future as a writer and persuasive storyteller. She is interested in marketing, potentially in the sports industry; possibly as a social media manager or in public relations.

“I’m so thankful for this scholarship. It has given me confidence and reassurance in my abilities,” Klaus shares. “I’m grateful to represent (the scholarship) and the legacy of Mary Mross. I will continue to work hard and be pushed in my academic growth.”

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