Palomar Audubon Society has a multifaceted mission, including a community outreach program with several special initiatives. One of these initiatives is our teen scholarship program which PAS has sponsored since 2004.  This year we will provide a 100% scholarship award for a week-long educational summer camp on birding conducted by the American Birding Association at Camp Colorado. The 2024 Young Birders Camp Colorado is located at Allenspark, Colorado, which is near the Rocky Mountain National Park. The recipient of our 2024 PAS Scholarship Award is Faith Barton.

Faith Barton  is 15 years old, lives in Spring Valley, and is a sophomore at Liberty University Online Academy. She really got hooked on birds four years ago when she was just 11 years old. During the pandemic restrictions, she was doing some backyard birding and saw a nice bright-colored male Hooded Oriole. The Hooded Oriole has become her “spark bird”. Her main interest now is avian photography. In 2023, three of Faith”s photos were selected by the National Audubon Society’s annual Photography Top 100 awards. Faith Barton’s photos are #15, #30, & #42.  https://www.audubon.org/news/2023-audubon-photography-awards-top-100?ms=digital-web_nas_apa100_curtain_20230600  Also, Faith has formed a faith-based birding group through her Jamul Community Church called  the Early Birds. Once a month, Faith leads the Early Birds on a local San Diego County field trip. Faith has also led several paddle-boarding birding field trips with the annual San Diego Bird Festival. She is truly deserving of this award.