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June 7, 2016

We are so proud to announce our scholarship winners this year! We interviewers enjoyed talking to them so much that each and every interview went over the allotted 15 minute interval, in some instances into an hour of time! They made us laugh, they even made us cry. These students were nothing short of inspiring. They may not realize that their conversations have ignited new ideas for Raiders Remember, and ideas of how we can continue to stay connected to the community. We wish them all the best in their future endeavors, and hope to stay connected!

We would like to share some photos as well as quotes from their essays, as examples of their loyalty, passion and drive:

“I believe human beings have a desire to do good and change the world, they just need the opportunity and a good leader to guide them… I used to think that to change the world you had to be the smartest and most powerful. I have learned at [SBRHS] that this isn’t true. To change the world you need to be the most compassionate and driven, which are qualities that each of us have.” – John C. Myron

“I truly owe my dedication to my studies and the community to not only the entire teaching and administrative staff, with whom I have had conversations ranging from the popular TV show Scandal to the intricacies of Atomic Molecular Theory, but also to my freshman AP history teacher and mentor, Mr. Petty…he always said “when you fall down, you just get up and brush yourself off.” This allowed us, as impressionable and vulnerable freshmen, to realize our potential as students and citizens of the community.” – Michell Lavoie

“The biggest thing that I have taken out of my experience in high school is how to be a leader. Every team has a captain who teaches others how to run the team, work as hard as they can, but also how to be a family member…What stood out to me through my years at SBRHS is how everyone bonds together in times of despair. Anyone can be a happy family throughout good times, but what really matters is the actions of everyone during the hard periods.” – Bryan Edwards

“I believe that a Somerset Berkley Regional High School student is not actually a Blue Raider until they can understand what it truly means to be one – it is more than simply academic excellence; it is about being a good person and doing the right thing. After four years in this school, I can say that this is honestly the most influential lesson that I have learned.” – Kevin Quinn

“Through my leadership position [as color guard captain for the marching band] I began to realize how much I love helping people. I love the feeling of being there for someone no matter what and of being the person he or she goes to for advice and help. It gives me such an amazing sense of pride and fulfillment.” – Allison Pereira

 

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Raiders Remember Scholarship Winners and Interview Panel L to R: Bryan Edwards, Kim Duddy-Michaud, John C. Myron, Marion DiGiammo, Holly McNamara, Mitchell Lavoie, Allison Pereira, Lori Belche, Andrea DiGiammo-Musone, Kevin Quinn
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Raiders Remember Scholarship Winners L to R: Bryan Edwards, John C. Myron, Mitchell Lavoie, Allison Pereira, Kevin Quinn
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$2,500 scholarship winners: John C. Myron and Mitchell Lavoie, both attending Boston College in the fall.

 

The Raiders Remember Scholarship Fund was established in 2014 as a result of the Raiders Remember Farewell Event for the former Somerset High School building, looking forward to new beginnings and the future of Somerset Berkley Regional High School. The success of the event has made it such that we have built a perpetuating foundation that gives back to Somerset, including scholarships to graduates of SBRHS attending accredited two or four year, degree-granting colleges or universities, including vocational, and technical colleges. This is the second year we have awarded scholarships, and we are very proud to include these students in this award!

 

Raiders Remember was founded on a set of core values: loyalty, leadership, legacy, community, extra curricular involvement, personality and presentation. We are inspired by our award winners, and strongly believe that they exemplify the Raider spirit. We truly believe they ultimately will preserve the Raiders Remember culture and core values.

 

The application process consisted of the submittal of a paper application and transcript, along with an essay, of which the applicants had to “Describe a positive aspect of SBRHS and discuss how it has impacted [their] experience as a member of the community.” The top candidates were then interviewed, and the top two candidates were chosen. In fact, the committee felt so strongly about the performance of the interviews that we unanimously voted to award the 3 runner-ups with a $1,000 Honorable Mention Scholarship. We are very proud to be able to give back to these students. They did a tremendous job.

 

We would like to thank the student winners for being such an inspiration, and wish them best of luck! We look forward to seeing what their amazing future holds! They may not realize that they have inspired us so much that we’ve developed several ideas for the future of Raiders Remember.

 

On behalf of the Raiders Remember Committee, I am honored to award the two $2,500 Raiders Remember Scholarship winners, and the three $1,000 Honorable Mention Award Winners for their outstanding achievements and aspirations.

 

Raiders Remember Scholarship Winners ($2,500 each):

John Myron, Boston College; Mitchell Lavoie, Boston College

 

Raiders Remember Scholarship Honorable Mention Winners ($1,000 each):

Bryan Edwards, UMASS Dartmouth; Kevin Quinn, UMASS Amherst; Allison Pereira, UMASS Amherst

 

Thank you. All the best!

Holly McNamara
Executive Chair, Raiders Remember