Graduating senior Allison Hunter of Robinson Secondary School in Fairfax received $2,500 on May 28 as the 2013 recipient of

The Lunsford/Behrend Scholarship. The Lunsford/Behrend Scholarship Fund, Inc., which has awarded a scholarship annually for the past seven years, was started by Robinson band alumni in honor of Robinson band directors James G. Lunsford and Jack Behrend, who taught and inspired hundreds of students during their tenure at the school during the 1970s. Hunter, who played first chair euphonium at Robinson, was selected from a pool of applicants who were evaluated earlier this year. She plans to attend James Madison University in the fall, where she will pursue a music degree. Hunter was euphonium section leader in Symphonic Band but also played trombone as a secondary instrument in Robinson’s orchestra. Hunter has earned numerous music awards and positions, including placing with the All-District and All-Virginia bands, and performing with the Northern Virginia Youth Winds and the Kennedy Center’s Tuba Christmas. She also has represented Robinson in performing for area preschool and elementary students and the George Mason Honor Wind Symphony. Keeping “the tradition of our band program … is about playing music, being the best you can be and pushing to that new level of excellence,” Hunter wrote in the essay from her scholarship application. “I will leave a legacy, as the leaders of our organization before me did. … This program has transformed me into a leader, an adult, and made me the strong, confident person I stand to be today.” Robinson alumni Bill Siegfried, vice president of the scholarship fund, and Lois Douthitt, secretary/treasurer of the fund, presented the award at the Robinson Band Awards banquet. A group of Robinson Secondary School band alumni established the Lunsford/Behrend Scholarship Fund, Inc., in 2006 after reuniting at memorial services for James Lunsford, who died in late 2005. Jack Behrend died in 1986. The scholarship fund, a 501(c)(3) corporation, is dedicated to providing funding to deserving Robinson students to pursue higher education while staying involved in music. The scholarship’s founders anticipate that additional donations will make the scholarship self-perpetuating. Contributions to the Lunsford/Behrend Scholarship Fund are tax-deductible; to find out more about the fund or to make a donation, visit www.lunsfordbehrend.org.