Ossining High School Students Awarded a Record Amount of Scholarship Money

Ossining High School’s administrators and guidance counselors proudly presented scholarships and other awards to outstanding members of the class of 2014 Thursday night in the school’s auditorium. The amount of scholarship money awarded to OHS seniors heading to college increased nearly 63% from last year, rising from $150,000 to $245,000.

Assistant Principal Lorraine Longing attributed the dramatic increase to “alumni, community members and service organizations being impressed by all the wonderful accomplishments of our students—including the Intel Award, top-ranked colleges accepting our students, community service by students, and even our powerhouse State Champion Girls Basketball teams.”

Principal Joshua Mandel added, “Senior Awards Night is a great night for us to honor many of the OHS Seniors who have excelled academically and who have provided so much to the OHS community over the past 4 years.  The amount of scholarship money the students receive grows each year and this is a testament to all the individuals and groups that support OHS.  The OHS Scholarship committee, under the direction of Ms. Longing, does an outstanding job and I feel very fortunate to be part of such a supportive community.

This year 91 students received 188 awards, from many sources. Some students collected multiple awards. Local organizations such as the Ossining Fire Department, The Lions Club, The Ossining Boat and Canoe Club, and the Ossining PBA awarded scholarships.  Families give many awards in memory of loved ones, these include the Pauline M. Ricci Memorial Scholarship Award, the Riley Saper Scholarship, the Sue MacDonald Memorial Scholarship Award, and the Bernard R. Vernon Historically Black Colleges and Universities Scholarship—to name a few.  Many past OHS classes give scholarships, as do education-centered organizations such as the American Association of University Women and the NYBEST Scholarship.

The OHS Senior Awards process begins in the Fall, according to coordinator Michele Marona. “We send several emails to students and parents announcing scholarships as applications and schedules come to our attention. This is the first year we also used Twitter. We don’t rely totally on digital communication—guidance counselors inform their students of available scholarships too,” said Ms. Morona.

Guidance Counselor Johannah Moran says she and her colleagues encourage students to apply for many scholarships. “I tell students that money is not free,” said Ms. Moran, “They have a much better chance when they put in the work—and there’s no chance for an award if a student does not apply.” Nick Sallucci, a 2013 graduate now going into his sophomore year at the University of New Haven followed this strategy. “I applied for about 20 scholarships, and ended up getting five awards. The $5,000 helped a lot this year.”

When students apply for a particular scholarship, usually a committee from the awarding organization, or the family, will review the applications and winnow applicants down to a few finalists. Some committees then interview the finalists to choose who receives the scholarship.  About five percent of the time, the organization or family asks Ossining High to make the choice, and an in-house committee selects recipients.

While most scholarship committees expect good academic achievement, many will also look at the financial need of the student, their extracurricular activities, and the student’s level of community service.

The largest scholarship awarded Thursday night came from an anonymous donor: The “Catch a Break Scholarship” went to two students. Both will receive $10,000 per year for each of four years. The awarding entity for this scholarship also considers the applicant’s work experience.

Family, friends, counselors, teachers and those awarding scholarships packed the OHS Auditorium. A reception followed the ceremony.

While we cannot put every award and every recipient in this article, we do invite awarded students to share about their scholarships with readers, in the comment section below.