Mendocino High senior Max Oatney off to MIT

Mendocino Coast Environmental Scholarship selection committee member Katy Pye (left) awards a scholarship to Max Oatney outside the Mendocino High School in Mendocino, Calif., in May 2026. Oatney will be attending the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the fall. (Rod Jones via Bay City News)

MENDOCINO CO., 6/5/26 — Amassing a 4.55 GPA while jumping into sports, service and theater vaulted Mendocino High senior Max Oatney to an early admission and a full-tuition aid grant to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Oatney also was selected for a Mendocino Coast Environmental Scholarship.

Katy Pye, who serves on the nonprofit’s selection committee, asked how Max linked a career built from an MIT degree with environmental protection, the mission of the coast’s environmental scholarship program.