In Our Schools
By: White Plains Times
Published: June 26, 2008
Rotary Club Awards Over $20K to Local Graduates
The Rotary Club of White Plains began their scholarship fund in 1966. Every year since, they have selected scholarship recipients from the three area high schools: White Plains High School, Archbishop Stepinac High School and Academy of Our Lady of Good Counsel High School. The 2008 scholarship winners are: Margaret Brown, WPHS, attending Yale University, received the Club’s 4-year scholarship of $1,000 each year, The W. Thomas Bachman Scholarship; Katherine Newsome, Good Counsel, attending the College of St. Rose, received The Michelle Mooney Scholarship of $1,000; Joshua Hyatt-Smith, WPHS, attending the University of Connecticut, received The John W. Ruger Scholarship of $1,000; Sharon Yeung, WPHS, attending Boston College, received The Henry Mertens Scholarship of $1,000; and Armando Briones, WPHS, attending Rochester Institute of Technology, received The Edward Anderberg Scholarship of $1,000.
In addition, the following students received $1,000 scholarships each: Roger Alayo, WPHS, attending SUNY Stony Brook; Tichina Epps, WPHS, attending St. Johns; Lani Hosei, WPHS, a soprano, received a music scholarship, attending Southern Adventist University; Shir Livne, WPHS, attending Tufts University; Sandra Mastrangelo, WPHS, attending Brown University; Caitlin McNally, Good Counsel, attending Boston College; Emma Oppenheim, WPHS, attending Tufts University; Jonathan Rayo, WPHS, attending Northeastern University; Rebecca Riss, WPHS, a saxophonist and flautist, received a music scholarship, attending Carlton College; Estafania Soto, WPHS, attending Manhattan College; Najee Stevenson, Stepinac, attending Boston College; Simone Tharkur, WPHS, attending CCNY; Sheldon Thompson, Stepinac, attending Virginia Tech; and Estefania Torres-Ortega, WPHS, attending LIU.
The Rotary Club of White Plains was chartered in 1919. The Club has 122 active members and meets every Tuesday at 12:15 p.m. at the Crowne Plaza in White Plains. The Club sponsors various fundraisers throughout the year to support the scholarship fund and other community programs. To learn more about the White Plains Rotary and their community projects, visit rotarywp.org.
Sonny Katz Performing
Arts Scholarships Awarded
Seniors from White Plains High School and Port Chester High School have been selected as this year’s recipients of “Sonny Katz Scholarship Fund” awards from Westco Productions, the White Plains-based nonprofit professional theater company. The awards were presented on Saturday during the organization’s Awards Brunch at The North End restaurant in White Plains.
The recipients, Deborah Villalba (left) of White Plains and Michelle Altmann of Port Chester, both plan to pursue college-level studies in the performing arts. Each will receive $1,000 to use in order to further their studies. The award recipients were chosen through an application process that included talent auditions judged by performing arts professionals.
The scholarship fund is named in honor of the late Seymour “Sonny” Katz, who was a founding member of Westco’s Board of Directors. Sonny also was well known throughout Westchester County for his 37 years of service as City Marshal for the City of White Plains. He was a graduate of Port Chester High School.
Villalba is an honors student at White Plains High School. She is an experienced flautist. She is assistant director of the Youth Choir at St. Bernard’s Parish in White Plains and a member of the Westchester Brassmen Drum and Bugle Corps in Harrison. Deborah has a fine lyrico-spinto soprano voice and plans to pursue opera and music. With the high school choir, she performed in an African-American Spiritual Concert at Penn State University.
Visual Arts Award
Good Counsel senior Veronica Pizarro received the Excellence in Visual Arts award last month from the StArt ’08 Westchester High Schools Student Art Exhibition at the Osilas Gallery of Concordia College in Bronxville. It was the second annual exhibition showcasing the work of talented area high school students.
White Plains Retiree Honored at Good Counsel
The Student Council of the Academy of Our Lady of Good Counsel High School celebrated Marian LaMattina Day in honor of the White Plains resident who retired from the school cafeteria after 32 years of service. LaMattina has been a resident of the Reynal Park area of the city for almost 35 years.
Hospital Auxiliary
Honors WPHS Senior
At the Auxiliary of White Plains Hospital Center’s 2008 Annual Meeting on June 3, White Plains High School student Patty Swayne was awarded the Junior Volunteer Scholarship Award and a $1,000 scholarship. Swayne has logged over 175 volunteer hours at the hospital in pediatrics and transport. In the fall, she will continue her studies at Adelphi University, where she intends to pursue a career in pediatric nursing.
Since 2006, Swayne has participated in the hospital’s Nurse Apprentice Program, completing nursing apprenticeships over her summer and winter breaks. The Nurse Apprentice Program works year-round on the local level to address the nationwide nursing shortage. The program administers the Nurse Apprentice Society at White Plains High School as well as nurse apprenticeships at the hospital during summer and winter breaks. The program provides educational programs about the diversity in the profession of nursing for a variety of groups such as local Girl Scout troops and middle school students interested in health-related fields.
White Plains Student Among “Buggy” Honorees
A White Plains Middle School student, Dale Fortin, was among over 40 students from Westchester who received honors and prizes on June 11 in the second annual “Get Buggy With It! Bee Creative Contest,” sponsored by J.P. McHale Pest Management. Students in grades kindergarten through eighth grade showcased their colorful posters, photography and art submissions, as well as dramatized their stories and poetry with compelling information about how bugs can be our partners in life on earth.
