Senior Awards Ceremony

On May 22, the James Buchanan High School honored the Class of 2018 with the annual Senior Awards Ceremony. Over $230,000 in awards were presented to the senior class with 70 lucky students able to partake in the Ceremony.

With the ceremony only lasting for about two hours, Claire Alfree (12) entertained the crowd as she played various pieces on the piano before the ceremony started.

“This is the first time we ever had live entertainment,” said program coordinator Mrs. Mary Cristofano (Faculty).

The program was packed with all different kinds of scholarships and awards, ranging from $50-$4,000.

Each department in the school presented awards to chosen students that went above and beyond. The awards can also be from progress throughout the four years of high school.

For students to receive scholarships, they had to fill out multiple applications and write essays. Each application required different amounts of information to coincide with what the scholarship entailed.

The well-known Glazier scholarship was the top on everyone’s list. With $44,000 being split 18 ways, each student received $2,444. The scholarship can renew with each year of college if the student keeps up with a certain GPA and fills out the renewal paperwork each year.

The Marshall Reeder scholarship topped all the others ones, giving $4,000 over 4-years totaling to $16,000. Megan Hoffeditz (12) was the lucky student to receive the scholarship. Hoffeditz is planning on going to Wilson College to work towards her teaching degree.   

Lenfest Scholarship winners were also announced. These award winners already knew that they were chosen, but Nicholas Garbinski (12), Logan Rockwell (12), and Renee Sollenberger (12)  were recognized for their accomplishment. For more information read Lenfest Scholars For Life.

Many scholarships are donated by people in the area to help out with students’ college expenses. Past students or teachers come to the ceremony to be a figurehead of any scholarship.

Some scholarships had certain criteria and were only presented for some students. Logan Rockwell (12) qualified for the Montgomery Elementary scholarship, where only people who attended the elementary school could apply. This can also go for the Lemasters scholarship, with the requirement of having a residence in the area.

Local businesses and organizations also presented at the ceremony. The local Rotary Club donated $4,500, as well as Whitetail Ski Resort due to the multiple employees that work there over the winter season. The Bank of Mercersburg, presented by Annalisa Ambrisco, gave Summer Sensinger (12) the scholarship on her behalf.

Memorial awards were also given out to represent certain people in their honor.

With one last roaring applause from the crowd, all 70 students beamed with excitement with multiple certificates and folders in hand. The night ended with Tea Time Tasties cookies and other refreshments provided by the JBHS cafeteria.