Ostrander on Oprah

Carrie Ostrander, recent graduate of Carson High School and winner of the Nevada Boys & Girl's Club Youth of the Year scholarship, was featured Monday - in about three seconds of air time - on the Oprah Winfrey Show for her accomplishments.

"That was way cool," said Carrie, who watched the show with friends at the Boys & Girl's Club. "It was awesome, just too cool."

The show highlighted the accomplishments of 50 students, one from each state, on "Oprah's Angel Network" segment.

"We teamed up with the Boys and Girls Club of America in completing this project," said Jerilyn Schultz of the Oprah Winfrey Show.

"Carrie is an outstanding young lady. We showed a picture of each winner and their biography on Monday's show."

When Carrie won the award in April, it was the first time a Carson City youth was chosen for the $25,000 scholarship. Carrie became a member of the Carson City facility at the age of 12 and one year later became part of the Leaders in Training program. At the age of 14, she was hired as patio assistant, and now serves as athletic assistant.

Carrie was chosen by her colleagues at the Boys & Girls Club of Western Nevada to compete on the state level. She completed an application that called for several essays and articles for research, amounting to 50 pages.

Winfrey will salute this year's scholarship recipients, as well as other students who have overcome incredible obstacles to pursue their education.

Carrie is still undecided as to her major when attending the University of Nevada, Reno.

"It will be either child psychology or elementary education. Either way, I want to work with children."

Winfrey began the program three years ago when she asked her audience to collect and donate their spare change. In 1998, viewers raised more than $3.5 million through the national change collection along with private donations. The money created college scholarships, given to one student from every state for three years, 150 students in all.