Students honored with scholarship

Date: 8/16/2011

Aug. 17, 2011

By G. Michael Dobbs

Managing Editor

HOLYOKE — Comcast honored four Holyoke students on Aug. 11 with scholarships in recognition of their scholastic excellence.

For the past 11 years the cable television giant has teamed upwith the Holyoke mayor to present $1,000 scholarships. This year the recipients included Brehdan Archbald from Holyoke Catholic High School and two students from Holyoke High School, Becca Deleporte and Jennifer Hernandez.

Another Holyoke student, Odalis Amparo, received a $1,000 scholarship as part of the national Comcast Leaders and Achievers Scholarship program. Amparo will be studying psychology at Westfield State University.

The three recipients of the Mayor’s Scholarship were selected on the basis of essays they wrote on the subject of “What would you do if you witnessed bullying?”

To determine the recipients of the Leaders and Achievers scholarships, the company works with high school principals, guidance counselors and school administrators to select the Leaders and Achievers scholarship recipients. Inter-national Scholarship and Tuition Services, Inc., an independent firm that specializes in managing sponsored scholarship programs, oversees the program.

This year, 1,878 high school seniors received Comcast Leaders and Achievers Scholarships, including 187 from New England.

Stephen Fitzgibbons, Comcast Senior Manager of Government & Community Relations, is a Holyoke native and said the local scholarship program is “just another way Comcast can give back to the community.”

Archbald will be attending Boston University where he will be majoring in economics. Hernandez will be attending Western New England University for forensic chemistry and Deleporte will be at Holyoke Community College majoring in radiologic technology.

Mayor Elaine Pluta told the three students in attendance that the scholarships recognized “the efforts you’ve made to become great students.”