Bright Future Ahead for Some Outstanding Port Chester Students

The Port Chester Carver Center honored excellence in education last night as it announced the recipients of the third annual Rising Senior Kelly Scholarship and the 2013 Jill Billups Beltran Award for Excellence in the Arts at the Port Chester Board of Education Back to School Night Meeting.  

Three Port Chester High School seniors, Caroline De la Cruz, Sarah Katherine Kamensky, and Katherine Wojton, were selected as the Rising Senior Kelly Scholarship recipients and each was presented with a $2,500 award.  These awards are made possible by the generosity of a local Rye family that is deeply committed to education; Suzanne and George Whaling and their children. It is a great honor to receive the scholarship as there are few awards of this kind available to students. The award is given in honor of Mrs. Whaling’s mother, who was an educator and an inspiration to her children and many others in the community.

The Carver Center Rising Senior Kelly Scholarship is given to help cover expenses associated with college readiness and the college application process. Past award winners have used the award money for college application fees, college visits, SAT prep courses and exam fees, AP exam fees, and pre-college enrichment courses.  Recipients of the Rising Senior Kelly Scholarship are selected based on their academic excellence, community involvement, and financial need. The goal of this award is to aid promising students on their journey to college and lessen their financial burden.

The 2013 Jill Billups Beltran Award for Excellence in the Arts was awarded to Juan Novoa, currently a student at Fashion Institute of Technology and recent PC High School graduate. The scholarship is named after Jill Billups Beltran, who served as the Carver Center ED from 1999 until her untimely passing in 2004. Her family and friends created the scholarship in her honor to commemorate a woman who loved the arts, was invested in the development of children and youth. 

Carver Center is the primary community-based organization in Port Chester, offering educational, recreational, cultural and civic services for pre-school children, youth, adults, and seniors, with a particular focus on meeting the needs of underprivileged youth.  The Center’s vision is to “build brighter futures” – that is, give people the resources and tools they need to lead productive, self-sufficient lives.  To learn more about Carver Center, visit the website at www.carvercenter.org.