Local scholar athletes honored by McDonald's

Date: 8/3/2009

Alexandra Tilley of The MacDuffie School received the McDonald's McScholar Athlete Award during a recent ceremony. She was awarded for her exemplary athletic and academic achievements, strong leadership, good citizenship and high levels of integrity.

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High school seniors from across Western Massachusetts were recently presented with the McDonald's McScholar Athlete Award for exemplary athletic and academic achievements, strong leadership, good citizenship and high levels of integrity during a recent ceremony.

A total of 79 students were presented with the award at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield by Scott Coen, sports director of WGGB-TV.

Trey Wingo, ESPN SportsCenter anchor, served as the event's keynote speaker.

Patrick Kelleher, McDonald's business consultant, congratulated the athletes and welcomed the principals, parents, and coaches who turned out to honor the accomplishments of the scholar-athletes. The students have successfully balanced participation in school sports, strong academic standing, community volunteerism, as well as numerous other activities.

"We are excited to be recognizing our 13th McScholar class in 2009," Wayne LeBrun, owner and operator of seven McDonald's restaurants in Western Massachusetts, said. "These student-athletes are exemplary individuals and deserve to be commended for their accomplishments. The McDonald's owner/operators of Western Massachusetts are proud to work with schools on this local program and wish all of the McScholar Athlete recipients continued success in the future.''

The annual McScholar Athlete Awards program was founded by the local McDonald's owner/operators in Western Massachusetts. McDonald's created the McScholar Athlete program, which is the largest of its type in Western Massachusetts, working with local high school principals who nominate one male and one female student from their school each year.

The following high school students were honored with the McScholar Athlete Award:

Cathedral High School: Samantha Craig, Brandon Hicks

East Longmeadow High School: Kathryn Hakanson-Stacy, Daniel Stearns

Ludlow High School: Elisha Homich, Derek Simpson

The MacDuffie School: Alexandra Tilley

Minnechaug Regional High School: Leah A. Bianco, David J. Sugrue

Putnam Vocational Technical High School: Shulene Monroe, Khalid Ibriham

Springfield Central High School: Amy Elizabeth Contant, Jason Patrick Keefe

Springfield High School of Commerce: Angie Couyoute, Kareem Nunnally-Rivera

Springfield High School of Science and Technology: Wendy Huynh, Kenny Ablordeppey.