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FRAMINGHAM RESIDENTS COLIN MORAN, FIORELLA PORTAL-VENTURI, JONATHAN MONTANEZ, AND MELANYE FONTANELLERECEIVE $1000 SCHOLARSHIPS FROM MIDDLESEX SAVINGS CHARITABLE FOUNDATION

Grants totaling $35,000 go to area graduates from 25 communities and 30 public, charter, and vocational high schools

 

NATICK, MA – July 2, 2013 – Dana M. Neshe, President of the Middlesex Savings Charitable Foundation, has announced that Framingham residents Fiorella Portal-Venturi, Colin Moran, Jonathan Montanez, and Melanye Fontanelle are among 30 students from public, charter and vocational high schools in the area to receive a $1,000 scholarship grant from the foundation.

Moran, a graduate of Framingham High School, plans to study music at the University of new Haven. Fontanelle, also from Framingham High, was a member of the Resiliency for Life Program. She will attend Mass Bay Community College.

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Portal-Venturi graduated from Advanced Math and Science Academy, a charter school in Marlborough. She will attend Worcester State University. Montanez graduated from Joseph P. Keefe Technical High School in Framingham.

Each of 30 schools nominated a scholarship recipient based on criteria that included academic merit, financial need, community service and personal improvement. The Middlesex Savings Charitable Foundation was established in 2000 through an endowment provided by Middlesex Savings Bank to ensure funding of scholarships and worthy non-profits in any economic climate. Over $325,000 has been distributed to date through the scholarship program.

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The Foundation also announced that Victoria Bernardini of Franklin is recipient of the seventh annual A. James Lavoie Scholarship. This $5,000 award is named in honor of Mr. Lavoie, former president of Middlesex Savings Bank, who was deeply committed to the support of education. Bernardini, a graduate of Franklin High, will attend UMass-Dartmouth.

An independent committee selected Bernardini for the Lavoie Scholarship for her essay in response to “If you could do one thing to improve the quality of life in your community, what would it be and how would you do it?”

Bernardini’s solution was “High School Journey…Seriously,” a peer-to-peer seminar series in which upperclassmen would counsel younger students on how to fully realize their own academic potential through consistent effort. Reasoning that teens are more receptive to advice from older students than from adults, she envisions a program that entails personal goal-setting, understanding what is expected of them, and how to make the most of class participation and homework, among many others.

A program like “High School Journey…Seriously” would have been especially helpful to her, Bernardini wrote, because she has been a learning-disabled student since grade school. While she worked hard to overcome her dyslexia, she struggled academically because she did not take her studies seriously until she was a high school junior.

“High school students often live in the moment and let academics slip. Both my teachers and parents expected good grades from me, but often the message did not get through. I believe I would have been receptive to some friendly advice and guidance from an informed peer,” she wrote.

Bernardini’s plan envisioned a series of seminars by a cadre of senior-class volunteers who would explain the school’s academic expectations and stress the importance of setting high standards – including consistent class participation, homework, cumulative grade point average and SAT scores – beginning in freshman year. College admissions advisors and local employers would also be invited to participate.

“We’re pleased to award the A. James Lavoie Scholarship to Victoria Bernardini, and we are happy to assist Fiorella Portal-Venturi, Colin Moran, Jonathan Montanez, Melanye Fontanelle, and the many other deserving young people who received scholarship aid this year. We’re proud of all of them and we wish them all the best on the next phase of their journeys,” said Neshe.

 

Middlesex Savings Charitable Foundation 2013 Scholarship Award Recipients

 

Seventh Annual A. James Lavoie $5,000 Scholarship

 

Victoria Bernardini, Franklin High School.  To attend UMass-Dartmouth

 

$1,000 Scholarship Award Recipients

 

High School and Student Name                          Hometown and College

Acton-Boxborough Regional: Ryan Small           Boxborough -  Endicott College

 

Algonquin Regional: Josue Deleon                        Northborough  - Worcester State

Advanced Math & Science Academy:                          Fiorella Portal-Venturi                                 Framingham -  Worcester State

 

Ashland High: Phoebe Kurriss                           Ashland - Bridgewater State

 

Assabet Valley Regional: Morgan Parmeter                Maynard - Merrimack College

Bedford High: Evelyn Sainato                          Bedford  -   TBD

Bellingham High: Megan Kenney                    Bellingham  - Univ. of New England

Blackstone Valley Regional: Gabriela Rosa                  Milford - Assumption

Concord-Carlisle: Jack Struck                           Concord  - American University

Framingham High: Colin Moran                         Framingham - University of New Haven

Framingham High Resiliency for Life:                Melanye Fontenelle                                   Framingham - Mass Bay

Franklin High: Katherine Nazzaro                     Franklin - Bridgewater State

Groton-Dunstable Regional: Jamie Park                       Groton - UMass-Amherst

Holliston High: Jacob McLinden                        Holliston -  UNH

Hopkinton High: Jaclyn Chirco                       Hopkinton  - Assumption

Joseph P. Keefe Technical: Jonathan Montanez           Framingham - TBD

Lincoln-Sudbury: Adam Bradley                       Sudbury -  UMass

Littleton High: Garrett Essman                        Littleton  - University of Vermont

Maynard High: Colby LeSage                           Maynard - Bridgewater State

Medfield High: Scott Todd                                Medfield  - Florida Institute of Technology

Medway High: Madison Holland                                Medway - Simmons College

Milford High: Madeline Parsons                                Milford   - Worcester State

Millis High: Matthew Fife                                        Millis - Wstfield State

Nashoba Valley Technical: Aaron Febbi                         Westford  - UMass-Amherst

Natick High: Timothy Sakharov                             Natick -    Northeastern

 Needham High: Julie Weinberg-Connors     Needham  - Beloit College

Tri-County Regional: Abigail Gay                           Medway - Wheelock College

Wayland High: Mark Bonner                            Wayland  - TBD

Wellesley High: Amanda Harkavy                               Wellesley  - Dartmouth

Westford Academy: Emily Morency                    Westford - Elon University





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