St. Paul Catholic High School
SOUTHINGTON, CT — Two recent St. Paul Catholic High School graduates from Southington earned major scholarships as they left the Bristol school and prepared for higher education.
Gabriella Quirk of Plantsville and Jocelyn Kennedy of Southington joined two Bristol graduates to make up the quarter of scholarship recipients honored at the end of the school year.
The four scholarship earners were honored by the Thomas and Elsie Deeley Foundation, a not-for-profit private foundation established by their two children in 1996 to memorialize the “helping hand” approach they learned from their parents.
The foundation grants annual scholarships for deserving graduating seniors planning to attend college.
“These scholarships are based on the belief personal involvement with recipients creates a tangible bond between the student and the donor,” wrote St. Paul in a statement.
“Each recipient is assigned at least one former scholarship earner as their mentor throughout college and beyond.
“Hopefully, this bond will encourage the scholarship recipients to offer personal support to someone else after they graduate by ‘paying it forward’ – in the form of mentoring and/or financial assistance.”
This year, the awards total $134,000 over four years.
Quirk is receiving a scholarship to attend Boston College and major in political science.
Her mentor will be Jatorra “Tori” Jackson, who has a degree in political science from the University of Connecticut and is currently working for the Connecticut State Supreme Court while saving money to attend law school.
Kennedy is receiving a scholarship to attend Eastern Connecticut State University in Willimantic majoring in biology.
Her mentor will be Jenna Madigan, who graduated from Fairfield University with a degree in bio-engineering and is employed by Medtronic as a research engineer.
St. Paul President/Chief Administrator Cary Dupont said scholarships like this one help students attend school with less of a financial hardship.
“We’re thrilled to partner with the Thomas and Elsie Deeley Foundation and are most grateful for their generosity in supporting our graduates in making their college dreams possible. Congratulations to this year’s scholarship recipients,” Dupont said.
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