By Sue Hendriksma
The Schoolcraft Alumni Association announced scholarships totaling $4,500 to six 2018 graduates at its annual banquet on June 23. President Judy Oliphant noted an increase in giving from alumni this year.
She also pointed out that the association made an appeal to local businesses for the first time this year, and was very pleased to receive support from Chem Link, Kalamazoo County State Bank, Little Caesar’s and Mullin’s Accounting.
Oliphant said “Selecting the scholarship recipients each year is a difficult task. We find that nearly every applicant has a great GPA as well as involvement in service learning, athletics and other extracurricular activities . . . and some even manage to work part-time. We hope this increase in support from both alumni and business is a trend that will continue to grow so the Association can provide even more support to Schoolcraft students as they pursue the training necessary to follow their career goals.”
Emma Woodhams, Kennedy Leighton, RJ Sagers, and Riley Piper all received scholarships from the Alumni Association Scholarship fund. Emma Woodhams plans to pursue a career as a pediatric oncology nurse after college. Kennedy Leighton plans on attending Grand Valley State University to major in communications and, because of her experience on mission trips, dreams of opening a nonprofit to battle human trafficking.
RJ Sagers wants to help make spaceships that will take humans to Mars as an aerospace engineer for SpaceX. He will begin that journey at the University of Michigan. Riley Piper plans to become a civil engineer and starts at Western Michigan University this fall.
Reilly Puhalski was awarded a specialized scholarship given by Schoolcraft business Chem Link for a student interested in the sciences. Reilly will pursue a civil engineering degree at Holy Cross College and transfer later to Notre Dame.
Paxton Green was awarded a specialized scholarship given in memory of Linda Pincumbe, a Schoolcraft resident who passed away early in 2017. Three scholarships were also awarded in memory of Linda in 2017. Paxton will attend Concordia University to become a child life specialist.
The Alumni Association banquet and annual meeting was attended by approximately 100 alumni and guests. Aaron Beery was elected the new president of the organization.
Scott Paquin was elected vice-president. Sue Hendriksma’s term as secretary/treasurer ends in 2019, and Judy Shelley Oliphant will remain on the executive committee until 2020 as past president. The Association has web pages on the school’s website and a Facebook group,. They can be reached at alumni@schoolcraftcs.org.