One of the military community’s premier benefits has become even more valuable to 645 college and high school students, including one from Jamaica.
The annual Scholarships for Military Children program winners have been announced. Over 6,000 students applied for the scholarships at commissary locations worldwide, and Pete Sammarco of Jamaica has been awarded a $1,500 grant.
Proud parents MaryAnne and Peter Sammarco said that he is enrolled, or plans to enroll, at St. John’s
The Scholarships for Military Children Program was initiated in 2000 to award monies to graduating high school seniors or college-enrolled students. The scholarship program is open to qualified sons and daughters of the U.S. Armed Services including active duty, retirees, guard/reserves and children of deceased military personnel. Applications are submitted through commissaries.
Applicants for the 2010 program were required to maintain a minimum 3.0 grade point average, participate in voluntary school and community activities, demonstrate leadership qualities and write an essay on “You can travel back in time, however you cannot change events. What point in history would you visit and why?”
Manufacturers and organizations that do business with the commissary system funded the scholarships with money ordinarily used for various other contests and promotions. Sammarco’s scholarship at Fort Hamilton was funded through the generosity of the Commander William S. Stuhr Scholarship.
The Fisher House Foundation administers the Scholarships for Military Children program through Scholarships Managers, a professional scholarship management services organization. Fisher House is known for building military comfort homes near military medical facilities.
The level of competition continues to be very keen.
“The cumulative GPA remains in the 3.7 to 3.9 range,” said Bernard T. Cote, President of Scholarship Managers. “As in all prior years, the caliber of the applicants to The Scholarships for Military Children Program continues to be a step above those students who apply to the many other scholarship programs we administer.”
All of the recipients are listed at www.militaryscholar.org, the official web site for the program.
