Scholarship winners aspire to help humanity


By DEBORAH A. MILES In its 26th year awarding Joseph


Scacalossi scholarships, PEF has given worthy young students more than a million dollars to help further their educations. This year, 10 more students were selected from more than 400 applications. Each winner will receive $4,000 over the


next four years, in annual $1,000 installments.


Olivia Bowles is studying


international comparative studies and business at Duke University in North Carolina. She is a graduate of Shenendehowa HS where she earned a state Senate Youth RecognitionAward, a University of Rochester XeroxAward for Innovation and Information Technology, and an Outstanding ParticipantAward in the NationalAchievement Scholarship Program. Bowles has done extensive community


service as vice president of the Shenendehowa


Key Club such as befriending seniors, servingmeals at citymissions and raisingmoney for families affected by cancer. She loves studying new languages and different cultures, and has an interest in the fashion industry. Parent: Richard Bowles.


Johanna Carmany attends ClaremontMcKenna College in California and is studying pre- medicine. She was valedictorian of Heuvelton HS, was interviewed by Fox News for earning anAcademic All Star title and was recognized by the St. Lawrence-Lewis Counties School BoardAssociation for outstanding academic excellence. Carmany independently organized assistance for classmates and others in the community, was active in a programto help underprivileged


children and performed at nursing homes


to raisemoney for theAmerican Cancer Society.Music, dancing, singing, reading and writing are her hobbies. Parent: Karen Carmany.


Kyle-Ravi Chinsky ismajoring in biology and community health as he pursues a pre-med track at Tufts University. He was on the honor roll all four years at Brooklyn Technical HS, was anAP Scholar with Honors, and participated in the National Honor Society’smentoring program. He volunteers at Lutheran Hospital in the Emergency Department. He has tutored children and assisted veterans with readingmaterials at anArmy base library. He studied


Page 8—The Communicator September 2014 The scholarship committee chair is PEF


Region 2 Coordinator Bonnie Wood. The students, themselves, raise the bar


each year,” Wood said. “It is rewarding and impressive to see how they not only excel in their academic endeavors, but how they give of themselves by volunteering in so many wonderful ways to better their communities.” The scholarship program is named after


— The 2014 recipients —


Science, Technology, Engineering andMathematics (STEM) at Greenpoint YMCAand rejuvenated a garden andmade it eco-friendly. He plays football, tennis and hand ball, enjoys animatedmovies,meeting people and likes to think about his place in the future. Parent: Howard Chinsky.


Erin Gannon is a graduate of Voorheesville HS where she was recognized for her scholastic achievement, leadership, character and honesty by the Empire Girls State of New YorkAmerican Legion Auxillary. She received a Saint Michaels College BookAward for academic achievement and social conscience, and was a YaleModel United Nations Outstanding Delegate. She is exploring various careers while studying at Saint Michaels College in Vermont. She participated in the Service Action Learning Team,


volunteered as a community outreach clerk for caregivers and was a youth group coreministry leader at St.Matthews Church. Gannon’s interests include playing volleyball,music and guitar. Parent: Trisha Gannon.


Deanna LoBosco is a classical opera and jazz singer who looks forward to studying vocal performance andmusic education atAdelphi University. She is a graduate of Connetquot HS where she was on the National Honor Society, Tri-MMusic Honor Society and the Foreign Language Honor Society. LoBosco has volunteered at Habitat for Humanity and the Special Olympics.As a student government


member, she was instrumental in organizing fundraisers for various causes, and participated in Safe Halloween, a programthat provides a fun and protected place for young children to trick or treat. She also dances, reads. bikes, runs, takes Zumba classes, and enjoys live concerts, especially those featuring classical opera performers. Parent: Dawn LoBosco.


AreliMendoza-Pannone is launching her future career by studying creative arts in therapy with a concentration onmusic, and aminor inmusical theater at Russell Sage College. She was salutatorian at Loudonville Christian School, where she was on the High Honor Roll, National Honor Society and received a SageArtsAward. She participated in YouthAblaze Ministries,missionary training in drama and object lessons, as


well as attending Vacation Bible Schools. She volunteered as amiddle school youthmentor, and has a passion for music. She sings, plays the piano, guitar and violin, writes songs and poetry and enjoys photography. Parent: GerardoMendoza.


Maxine Petrosino is heading to the University of California, Berkeley and plans to study pre-law and its interconnections with neuroscience. She was valedictorian at AmsterdamHS and was awarded the President’s Volunteer Service Award for 100 hours of certified community service completed within a year. She played bingo with seniors, helped provide products and clothing to needy families and tutored peers in chemistry and English. Petrosino


was a state finalist in Poetry Out Loud, a national


recitation contest. She is aMock Trial teamcaptain, VarsityMasterminds Trivia captain and is active in the Rotary Club Interact Community Service Club. She enjoys swimming, snorkeling, poetry, sewing blankets and scarves for bingo prizes and bakes cupcakes. Parent: Linda Petrosino.


Julian Sit selected the University of Michigan as the place to study biomedical engineering. He was on the Dean’s Honor List at The Bronx HS of Science when he won a Jean Fairfax Scholarship. He earned the ResearchAward inAlgorithms and Data Structures fromthe Princeton University Computer Science Department, and is anAP Scholar with Honors. He belongs to the Burmese Buddhist YouthAssociation andmentors children in the basics of Burmese. He


PEF Information Line: 1-800-553-2445


Scacalossi, a PEF leader at the state Labor Department in New York who remained a union activist until his death in 1988. All the students are children or wards of


PEF members or retirees. The scholarship committee consists of


Wood, Frank Flack, David Lovell, Ramlochand Singh and Joanne Wright, PEF staff.


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