Charlie De Biase III, Michael Spoto win Caccese scholarships - SILive.com

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Philip Caccese Jr. Family Foundation scholarship winners Michel Spoto, third from left, and Charlie De Biase III, fourth from left, are flanked by members of the Caccese family. Included from the Caccese family, left to right, are Kimberly Caccese-Paribello (holding Philip Paribello), Victor Paribello (holding Mikayla Paribello), Maureen Caccese, Phil Caccese Sr., Marisa Caccese and Charles Caccese (holding Charles Caccese). (Caccese family photo)

When it comes to selecting their annual scholarship winners, the Philip Caccese Jr. Family Foundation committee looks for candidates who are academically sound, possess leadership qualities and volunteer their time.

And this year, Charlie De Biase III and Michael Spoto fit the bill nicely.

De Biase and Spoto each received a $2,000 scholarship during the foundation's main fundraiser, the Philip Caccese Jr. Memorial Golf Outing at Grand Oaks Country Club on July 24.

De Biase, who recently graduated from St. Charles, and Spoto, a Blessed Sacrament graduate, will attend St. Peter's Boys HS in New Brighton this fall. De Biase most recently played basketball and football while Spoto played soccer and football.

"The committee was very impressed with their essays ... they are one of the main reasons why they were chosen,'' said committee member Kim Caccese-Paribello. "In addition to having a positive influence (on their teams) athletically, they also did well in school and often volunteered within the community.''

According to Caccese-Paribello, De Biase often volunteered for St. Charles' kindergarten and first-grade basketball clinics while Spoto donated his time helping the Special Olympics and providing food for the needy at Thanksgiving time.

"They both possess can-do attitudes in more than one way,'' said Caccese-Paribello.

The Foundation and Golf Outing are named in honor of Philip Caccese Jr., a life-long Richmond resident who served in the elite 10^th Mountain division in the U.S. Army. Caccese, an advocate of youth sports, passed away just over seven years ago of sudden cardiac death syndrome at the age of 31.

Caccese was not only a member of the Staten Island Peewee Football League's Board of Directors, but also started a golf outing to raise funds for the league's Challenger Football Program for children with special needs.

The golf outing is now held to help raise funds for the Philip Caccese Jr. Family Foundation, which has not only awarded $25,000 to student-athletes in scholarships to date, but also donated over $5,000 to several charities that provide for children. The Caccese Foundation has donated to the Frank Reali Family Foundation, which helps provide cardiac screening for students entering high school, according to Caccese-Paribello.

"The outpouring of support we've received from family and friends has been amazing,'' said Caccese-Paribello, Philip Caccese Jr.'s sister. "They help make my brother's memorial golf outing and foundation what it is today.''

Missouri Rejects Lawmakers' Attempt To Block Immigrants From Receiving ... - ThinkProgress

CREDIT: Richard Drew, AP

City University of New York students Freddy Vicuna, left, and Monica Sibri stand near the school's Hudson Gate, in New York. Freddy participated in a hunger strike after the New York state government took out a provision allowing undocumented immigrant students to apply for financial aid,

Some good news came to undocumented immigrants in Missouri this week, when officials ruled that language in a state appropriations bill could not prevent students from receiving state scholarship funds for college.

The Missouri Department of Higher Education defended undocumented students’ access to Missouri’s A+ Scholarships even though state legislators made a small word change in a general assembly appropriations bill to stop funds from going to “unlawfully present” to “unlawful immigration status.”

This affected students who are protected by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, who couldn’t attend college before DACA without being charged an international tuition rate. President Barack Obama made the executive order on DACA to protect undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children, which he announced in November of last year.

It’s a pretty big win for undocumented immigrant students in Missouri because scholarships would be available for students for the first time since the scholarship program was created two decades ago, according to KansasCity.com. The department’s commissioner, David Russell, said the bill, which passed, “has no legal authority to withhold scholarship awards from otherwise eligible students.”

It read that in order to appropriate money for “expenses, grants, refunds and distributions from the Department of Higher Education … further provided that no funds shall be expended at public institutions of higher education that offer a tuition rate to any student with an unlawful immigration status in the United States that is less than the tuition rate charged to international students…”

Rep. Scott Fitzpatrick (R) made the change, and said, according to KansasCity.com, “I didn’t want their education to be subsidized by Missouri taxpayers.”

The department’s decision is significant because it comes at a time when numerous states are resisting DACA. The New York State Assembly and Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) left financial aid funding for undocumented immigrants out of the state budget this year, prompting 50 undocumented college students and allies to protest the move with a week-long hunger strike. As many as 26 states filed a joint lawsuit as a means of preventing the president from carrying out the executive order and Republican legislators have offered various amendments to eliminate DACA programs. An Institute for Immigration, Globalization, and Education survey of 909 undocumented immigrants across 34 states, released in March, showed that undocumented students were far more likely to succeed in college under the DACA program.

Although Missouri’s undocumented immigrant population isn’t comparable to states like Texas or California, there are an estimated 57,000 undocumented immigrants in Missouri, according to the nonpartisan research organization Migration Policy Institute. According to the Springfield News Leader, only about 27,000 of those immigrants can benefit from the Obama administration’s protections from deportation because so many Missouri immigrants haven’t been in the U.S. for the five years required under the program.

As the undocumented immigrant population has increased in the United States, Republicans have been outspoken on their opposition to immigration reform, despite the fact that 72 percent of Missourians said they are in favor of such legislation, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) voted against the “border surge” amendment, a bipartisan bill to spend $30 billion on border security and increasing the number of patrol agents, which passed in 2013, because it didn’t go far enough with border security. The chairman of the Missouri GOP, Ed Martin, said the Missouri Republican Party does not support amnesty.

Prosecutors association extends deadline for scholarships | NJ.com - NJ.com

The County Prosecutors Association of the State of New Jersey Committee has extended the deadline to apply for four annual scholarships this year to Aug. 15.

Applications for the Oscar W. Rittenhouse, Andrew K. Ruotolo, Jr., Harris Y. Cotton and the John H. Stamler memorial scholarships can be found on www.cpanj.info. 

Eligible recipients include law, undergraduate and graduate students in college, must be New Jersey residents and demonstrate financial need. Applicants will be notified of the decisions in October.

The Oscar W. Rittenhouse Memorial Scholarship applicants must have accepted admission to law school and have an interest in pursuing a career as a prosecutor. 

Applicants for the Andrew K. Ruotolo, Jr. Memorial Scholarship must have accepted admission to law school or graduate school and show a commitment to enhancing the rights and well-being of children.

Harris Y. Cotton Memorial Scholarship applicants must have accepted admission to a law school and show an interest in pursuing a career as a prosecutor with an emphasis in domestic violence or hate crime prosecutions. 

John H. Stamler Memorial Scholarship applicants must be a sworn law enforcement officer pursuing college or graduate school to improve as an officer.

The scholarships award a one-year grant up to $3,500, given directly to the recipient. Previous scholarship recipients are ineligible.

Erin Serpico may be reached at eserpico@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @erin_serpico. Find NJ.com on Facebook. 

Goodwill Customers Raise $11,000 for Local Scholarships - WIFR.com - WIFR

(L to R) RVC President, Mike Mastroianni; RVC Director of Development, Brittany Freiberg; Goodwill Director of Mission Services, Courtney Geiger; and Goodwill President, Sam Schmitz.

ROCKFORD (WIFR) -- Goodwill Industries of Northern Illinois has awarded Rock Valley College $11,000 in scholarship funds that are targeted to help those with disabilities to advance their education. Goodwill customers were asked at the register to ‘Round Up’ their purchases at the Rockford and Machesney Park Goodwill’s stores to contribute to the local scholarships. The successful “Round Up” program has enabled persons with disabilities to build a better future for themselves, their families, and the local community.

“This scholarship program is a perfect match for Goodwill’s mission of helping individuals with barriers achieve the dignity of work through advanced education and we couldn’t do it without the generosity of our Goodwill customers,” stated Sam Schmitz, President of Goodwill Industries of Northern Illinois.

Goodwill will also be awarding scholarships to 6 other community colleges in its territory this year making the total scholarship amount awarded over $44,000 due to contributions by Goodwill customers. The organization has awarded $68,000 in scholarships to Rock Valley College since the program began in 2010.

"I am overwhelmed by the generosity shown by our friends at Goodwill and those in the community who made this donation to the college possible," said RVC President Mike Mastroianni. "The impact a scholarship can have on a student’s life is immeasurable.” Thanks to the generosity of its donors, the RVC Foundation proudly awarded over $215,000 in scholarships to students in need in 2014.

For more information regarding the Goodwill scholarships, please contact Courtney Geiger at (815) 987-6226.

$5,000 scholarships awarded to Honor Roll Girl and Boy - Sports ... - The Providence Journal

PROVIDENCE â€" Smithfield's Stephanie Mattson and Barrington's Corey Daugherty, the 2015 Providence Journal Honor Roll Girl and Honor Roll Boy, each will receive a $5,000 scholarship awarded by Wendy's and the Peter Bennett Scholarship Fund. 

The Wendy's-Peter Bennett Scholarship is given in memory of the late Peter Bennett, who died in 1973 at age 11. The Bennett family, led by Harvey Bennett Jr., one of Peter's older brothers and owner of 11 Wendy's restaurants in Rhode Island, established the scholarship in partnership with The Providence Journal in 2006. 

The Bennett Family Association with the Honor Roll program dates to the mid-1960s when Curt Bennett, the oldest of six brothers and an All-State hockey and tennis player at Cranston East, was the 1966 Honor Roll Boy. 

Mt. Hope's Tyler Barbosa, the 2015 Dick Reynolds Correspondent award winner, will receive a $5,000 scholarship through a fund named in honor of the late Providence Journal sports writer. The fund was established through the estate of Dick Reynolds' late sister Catherine Reynolds. 

Mattson, Daugherty and Barbosa will also receive a $1,000 gift certificate from Cardi's Furniture, a longtime partner of the Honor Roll program. 

Wendy's also will provide each Honor Roll and Reynolds Award nominee a product gift certificate. 

The Honor Roll Girl and Boy are selected by a committee comprised of Anne Hird, the 1977 Honor Roll Girl; Richard Santaniello, the 1952 Honor Roll Boy; Elizabeth Marquis, former assistant chair of the Rhode Island Interscholastic League's Principals Committee on Athletics; Richard Lynch, former Smithfield superintendent of schools and former Rhode Island Interscholastic League executive director; and Providence Journal sports writer John Gillooly. 

The Reynolds correspondent award is selected by the Providence Journal sports department. 

â€" jgillool@providencejournal.com 

On Twitter: @JohnGillooly2 

(401) 277-7340

 

Missouri law can't block scholarships for undocumented immigrant students ... - Kansas City Star

Missouri educators say they won’t let language inserted in an appropriations bill prevent them from awarding A+ scholarships to qualified students.

In a memo sent Thursday to college presidents, chancellors and directors, Missouri Department of Higher Education Commissioner David Russell said language in the title or preamble of a recently passed higher education appropriations bill “has no legal authority to withhold scholarship awards from otherwise eligible students.”

He said the commission reviewed House Bill 3 and determined that it did not prohibit undocumented immigrant students with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals status from receiving scholarships paid for with state dollars or from being offered in-state tuition rates.

DACA, created by President Barack Obama in 2012, offers deferred action for certain undocumented young people who were brought to the U.S. as children. It does not allow them lawful status, but it does say they are lawfully present in the country.

Missouri’s A+ program provides scholarships to graduates of certain high schools and pays most of the cost to attend a two-year public or private college in the state. Students qualify for A+ if they have attended a Missouri high school for three years and have a 2.5 GPA, a 95 percent attendance record and 50 hours of tutoring or mentoring and are good citizens.

The department’s decision on awarding A+ means this year would be the first time since the scholarship program was established in 1993 that money has been available to undocumented students.

It could help several hundred such students who qualify for A+ pay for two years of college, said Liz Coleman, spokeswoman for the Department of Higher Education.

Missouri Republicans had tried to pass a Senate bill that would have prohibited the allocation of A+ program scholarships to DACA students. Gov. Jay Nixon vetoed that bill, opening the door for DACA students to receive A+ scholarships.

Then last week, colleges and universities learned of language in the state higher education budget bill stating that “no scholarship funds shall be expended on behalf of students with an unlawful immigration status in the United States.”

The language was added by Rep. Scott Fitzpatrick, a Shell Knob Republican, as a stopgap measure in case the Senate bill was derailed.

“I was not trying to ban them (DACA students) from attending college,” Fitzpatrick said. “I didn’t want their education to be subsidized by Missouri taxpayers.”

Missouri college officials said they were still reviewing the department memo. But the department said it’s not the universities but rather the Department of Higher Education that pays out A+ scholarships.

Prosecutors' group offers four scholarships - Philly.com

Four $3,500 scholarships, each named in honor of a former New Jersey prosecutor â€" including Gloucester County’s Harris Y. Cotton, who died in 1997 â€" are available for state residents pursuing careers in law enforcement and related fields.

The County Prosecutors Association of New Jersey has extended the initial July 15 deadline for the scholarships to Aug. 15. Each of the four scholarships lists specific criteria for educational and financial qualifications.

The award in Cotton’s honor is “intended for an applicant pursuing a career as a prosecutor specializing in domestic violence or hate crimes cases,” the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office noted in a news release. Applicants for that scholarship must also be accepted to law school and demonstrate financial need.

Cotton â€" whose stepfather, Charles Camp Cotton, also was a Gloucester County prosecutor â€" died at age 68, less than an hour before his term officially ended and his successor was sworn in.

The three other scholarships memorialize a late Hunterdon County prosecutor and two former Union County prosecutors. More information on the scholarships can be found at www.cpanj.info.

â€" Angelo Fichera

Students receive NAACP, McDonald's scholarships | Local News - WLKY Home ... - WLKY Louisville

Fifteen area students, just weeks away from heading off to college, were awarded scholarships Wednesday night.

Mobile Video

The scholarships were available thanks in part to a partnership between the NAACP and McDonald's.

This marks the 10th year the two have partnered to provide Jefferson County students with opportunities for higher education.

The scholarships are need-based and winners are selected in part by an essay on how they plan to give back to the community.

Organizers said after graduating college, the students do return to the community to do just that.

"The excitement and joy that I feel when I see young people that I have helped, you couldn't buy that, you could not put a price tag on that. It's just so unbelievable because they come back and they give back," NAACP Chair, education committee member, Kathryn Wallace said.

In all, $20,000 in scholarship money was awarded Wednesday night.

NAACP provided $10,000 and Mcdonald's matched that amount.

ScholarshipOwl automates college scholarships for students - The Next Web - The Next Web

More people are attending college than ever. According to the Institute of Education Statistics, an estimated 18 million people were expected to enroll in U.S. undergraduate programs in 2014.

It’s also more expensive than ever: data from The College Board shows that the average cost of a year of college education totaled to $31,231 at private colleges, $9,139 for state residents at public colleges, and $22,958 for out-of-state residents attending public universities.

Multiply by four, and it results in a lot of debt. According to the US News & World Report, roughly 70 percent of college students who graduated in 2013 did so with an average of $28,400 in debt.

ScholarshipOwl, a Tel Aviv-based startup with an office in Santa Monica, is trying to help US students get their education without breaking the bank by offering a free to use automated university scholarship service.

“We want to make studying more accessible for every student,” founder Kenny Sandorffy told TNW.

The service, which launches today in public beta, asks for a student’s basic information â€" birth date, gender, current school level, and potential field of study â€" to initially match them with more than 3.5 million different scholarship opportunities.

The students add in more information, including their GPA, and ScholarshipOwl narrows down to confirm which scholarships the student is fully eligible for.

If the student chooses to go forward, this is where ScholarshipOwl makes its money: marketing partners offer students surveys to fill out before accessing the application phase. If they choose to opt out, ScholarshipOwl will allow students to apply to a few applications every couple of weeks, rather than all at once.

ScholarshipOwl then automates the end of the process, notifying the student when everything is submitted and if any scholarship money will head his or her way. It also notifies a student if another scholarship match pops up.

Sandorffy said that ScholarshipOwl has a premium level, costing $20 per month or $100 per year, which will not only eliminate the surveys, but also match students with an account manager to advise them on the finer points of scholarship applications and essays.

ScholarshipOwl had a bare-bones private beta in February, and Sandorffy said the site helped 25,000 users match up with an average of 60 to 70 scholarships.

The website launches right in the thick of what Sandorffy called the two major spikes in the scholarship search â€" the middle of July. The other occurs in early January.

Considering the insane costs of higher education are only increasing each year, scholarships are a vital way for many to actually afford college without signing their life (and future earnings) away. They’re also a complete pain in the ass. ScholarshipOwl feeds and important niche in the collegiate process that will likely benefit savvy students looking to save money and are willing to put in the work.

Read Next: The EFF’s new website lets you easily contact your congressperson

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