Scholarships lessen the financial load for 21 local students

Tuesday afternoon at Norwalk City Hall the Norwalk Mentor Scholarship Fund honored some of the 21 award winners from its five annual scholarship programs.

Students from Norwalk High School, Brien McMahon High School and Briggs High School were honored in the following categories: The William J. Rosenbloom Scholarship, the Special Board of Directors' Scholarship and the Traditional Mentor Scholarship.

Award winners for the School-to-Career Scholarship Program and the Briggs Young Lives Scholarship Program have been or will be honored at separate events.

"This scholarship goes a long way to getting to school," said $2,000 Board of Directors' Scholarship winner and Norwalk High School senior Taylor Scicchitano. "Every scholarship is a chance to lessen the financial load," he said.

Scicchitano said he will be attending Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in the fall, and will study mechanical engineering.

"I'm excited to meet new people, and there's a lot of interesting machinery and lab technology available there," he said.

"But I'm going to miss the friends I've made here, and I'm going to miss the water."

Rosenbloom Scholarship Awards, in the amount of $13,000 each, were given in the name of William J. Rosenbloom, who left an annual award for two high achieving students who would be studying engineering or science in college. The Norwalk Mentor Scholarship Fund selects these award recipients.

Norwalk High senior and Rosenbloom award winner Sebastian Venegas said he will be pursuing a career in medicine at Franklin & Marshall College in the fall.

The second Rosenbloom award recipient, Brien McMahon senior Tyler McEwan, said he will go on to the University of Connecticut to study physical therapy.

Traditional Mentor Scholarship Program awards, in the amount of $2,000 each, were given to select students graduating from the Norwalk Mentor Program.

"There's no more important job...to see that our young people are safe, healthy, motivated and prepared to succeed," said Norwalk Mayor Richard Moccia, attended the awards reception.

"Every time I go to something [where students are honored for their accomplishments], I always see that parents or a mentor are involved," Moccia said.

Special Board of Directors' Scholarship recipients

Dominic Kruszewski -- Norwalk High School

Taylor Scicchitano -- Norwalk High School

Veer Dedhia -- Brien McMahon High School

Anthony Gray -- Brien McMahon High School

Traditional Mentor Scholarship Program award recipients

Luis Anthony Gomez -- Norwalk High School

Charles Corbett -- Norwalk High School

Olivia Bonilla -- Norwalk High School

Jasmine Prezzie -- Norwalk High School

Tanya Estavien -- Brien McMahon High School

Sha'Majah M. Addison -- Briggs High School

School-To-Career Scholarship Program award recipients

Danielle E. Gonzalez -- Norwalk High School

Thamarlande Onesair -- Brien McMahon High School

Cesar Valdovinos -- Brien McMahon High School

Andres Patino -- Brien McMahon High School

Stefanie Jimenez -- Brien McMahon High School

Briggs Young Lives Scholarship Program award recipients

Jessica M. Suarez

Kristi L. Stamp

Iesha D. Grossett

Vanessa Restrepo