Four recent graduates of Hopewell Valley Central High School have received scholarship awards to assist with the cost of higher education.
The students from the Class of 2019 were selected by the Hopewell Valley Education Foundation (HVEF) for their academic achievement, extracurricular leadership and community contributions during high school, according to officials.
Sarah Cleveland, Isaac Osborn, Will Titus and Raaga Singireddy received scholarships totaling $4,000.
“The HVEF is proud to award these scholarships each year to showcase the amazingly talented students who represent our public schools. Selected from a competitive pool of applicants, Sarah, Issac, Will and Raaga truly distinguished themselves through their excellence in and out of the classroom, and throughout the Hopewell Valley community,” said Sara Alyea, HVEF board president. “With these awards, we are thrilled to honor their impressive accomplishments and support their higher education journeys.”
According to officials, the HVEF is a nonprofit organization that raises funds for the Hopewell Valley Regional School District.
Cleveland, Osborn and Titus each received a $1,000 scholarship to support their journey to college.
Singireddy received the foundation’s $1,000 Claude A.R. Kagan Memorial Scholarship, which is presented to a student interested in science and technology.
“To be honest, I am not super financially capable of going to college. I was just so incredibly grateful to receive this,” Cleveland said. “It is a huge gift and helps me pursue my goals. Education is so hard to come by. You can get a scholarship from your university, but chances are it is not going to cover the costs, so these local scholarships are incredibly important to people in my situation.”
She said she will be attending McGill University, Montreal, Canada, to major in international development with a minor in biology.
“I have had some trouble through school because I have an attention disorder I did not know about, so I have been working really hard for many years,” Cleveland said. “To know all the hard work I put in has come out to a great outcome, ending up with a great university and actually being able to pay for it, is a huge success for me.”
In high school, Cleveland helped to create a nonprofit organization called Hopewell Gives Back with two other HVCHS students, which has organized events for blood drives and Martin Luther King Jr.
“When I first heard my name I was a little surprised. To be included with the other students who were winners of the scholarships was a big deal to me, because they are all hard workers,” Osborn said. “This scholarship meant a lot to me because it will help me succeed in college.”
He said he will be attending Binghamton University in New York and plans to major in psychology. He hopes to attend dental school, with plans to be an orthodontist and have his own practice.
“I really pushed myself during my junior and senior years academically. After getting the scholarship with the other students, I felt very proud of myself,” Osborn said. “Working hard does pay off. The last couple years of high school are important and helped prepare me for my journey for college.”
Titus said earning the scholarship was a culmination of all the hard work he put in through high school.
“I was thrilled to hear my name announced. This is also a product of the support I have received from the teachers, my parents and friends; that has allowed me to make a difference in the community and school over the 12 years I have been in Hopewell Valley,” he said.
Titus will attend Williams College and study political science or political economy.
“I hope this inspires people to be leaders; that we should lead with integrity, kindness and character,” he said. “Every little bit counts and this scholarship is much more than a little bit. It makes a big difference in contributing to pay for college and all the costs associated with college. It is a big help in this area.”
Singireddy said it was an honor for her to receive the scholarship from the foundation.
“Not only did it aid me monetarily, but it gave me confidence for continuing my educational journey through college,” she said. “I will be attending Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh as a chemical and biomedical engineering major. I would like to thank the foundation for supporting me in my academic endeavors.”