Monfredo: Webster Square Business Association Continues Assisting Students For College

Saturday, May 16, 2015

John Monfredo, GoLocalWorcester MINDSETTER™

Our children make up only 30% of our population but 100% of the future. Thus, as a community, need to do all that we can to support their educational endeavors and to let them know that we want and encourage them to succeed.

There is an organization in Worcester doing that is doing that! Recently the Webster Square Business Association held its 23rd annual scholarship awards banquet and did just that… honoring and encouraging a handful of scholarship recipients to move forward with their dreams and aspirations.

Perhaps, Rod Lee, president of the Webster Square Business Association, said it best … “Providing scholarships to the amazing achievers from South High is a longstanding tradition with the Webster Square Business Association. The monies we allocate every spring to help these young people continue their education and realize their goals are well spent, in our view. We take great pride in playing a small role in boosting their chances of success.”

Assisting in the awards ceremony was South High’s principal Maureen Binienda, an outstanding educator who has received a number of awards for her leadership. She praised the work of the Association and spoke about why these students were exceptional recipients of this award.

The first award was presented to Summer Rawson. She received the WSBA Business Award. This young lady was involved in basketball, volleyball and cheerleading at the school. She participated in community service projects such as the “start on the street program”, worked with Mass Audubon, was involved in a college program called Bottom Line whose mission is to help disadvantaged students get into college, was involved with the Breast Cancer Awareness Walk and even held a job as a cashier at Sodexo. Academically, Summer passed all AP courses in Psychology, English, Statistics, and Economics. Her GPA was 3.9 and she plans on majoring in Psychology at Framingham State University.

Christopher King Colon-Canales received the James Finnegan Award. He is a class officer, involved in the Latin Colonel’s Union, did community service in the JRPTC parade and tutors and mentors younger students. He also is a recipient of the DAR award and held a summer internship job at the District Attorney’s office. Academically, Christopher passed AP courses in Spanish Language, English and U.S. History. His aim is to major in Criminal Justice at Worcester State University.

Anh Tram Dao was described by the school as “really brilliant, and she received the WSBA Scholarship. Anh has been involved in the National Honor Society, Mock Trial, Drama Club, the International Show and still found time to be an intern at the Bowditch and Dewey Law office. In the community she was a poll worker at election time and has been involved in many other endeavors. International Relations, Anthropology, Peace and Conflict Resolutions are her expected fields of study. Holding a GPA of 3.73 the school stated that she is a student with great potential for the future. She will be attending Brown University.

Mabel Konadu received the MUC Scholarship. Mabel serves as an office aide and is described by the school as positive role model for other students. She is a member of the National Honor Society and is strong in Biomedical engineering. Mabel loves playing for the girls’ variety soccer team and has been involved in community service programs at South High, works in the Lutheran Social Service program and in the New England Pathfinder Club. Mabel has taken AP English, History, and Physics and has a GPA of 3.8. Her first choice for college is WPI where she intends to purse Biomedical Engineering.

Quyen Nhat Tran received the GWCF WSBA Scholarship award. He is also a recipient of the Greater Worcester Community Foundation award and the John and Abigail Adams Scholarship award. Quyen loves creating robots and was an active member of the Robotics Club at the school. He takes pride in his studies , was eighth in his class ranking and hopes to pursue a career in engineering at UMass Amherst.

Nicole Marie DeFeudis received the Herbert D. Dyson Memorial Scholarship award. She is second in your Class of 2015 and captained the inter-high variety swim team. In addition, she plays the clarinet for the band, serves as editor-in-chief of the school newspaper, The Colonel Journal, and worked as a lifeguard at the Boys and Girls Club of Worcester. She also served as an intern at Worcester Magazine. Academically, she is a Goddard scholar and has passed AP courses in Human Geography, Statistics, Chemistry, English Language Literature, Government, and Calculus. She as a GPA of 4.65. Her aspiration is to have a career in Journalism. She will attend UMass Amherst and as one of her teachers stated she has the skill and the desire to succeed in the field of journalism.

At the banquet all of the students spoke from their heart in thanking the Webster Square Business Association for assisting them as they prepare for college life. Most will be their first in their family to go to college and are grateful for having that opportunity to pursue their dreams of a college education.

Nicole DeFeudis perhaps summarized the students’ feelings with her speech…” There are no words to describe how honored I am to be here right now; to be on the verge of so many great opportunities, and to have received so much help along the way… I owe much gratitude to the wonderful teachers at South High who are all here with me in spirit because the past four years would not have been possible without them. Lastly, I want to give infinitely large and appreciative thanks to the Webster Square Business Association for helping to bring my dreams one step closer to reality. Your generosity means so much to me…”

As a community we wish our students the very best in their college career and are very proud of their accomplishments during their high school years.

Monfredo: Webster Square Business Association Continues Assisting Students For College

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