2019 Helen Whalen Scholarship Recipients
The Oak Lawn-Hometown PTA District Council is proud to announce the three $1,000.00 Helen Whalen scholarship winners for 2019. Three very deserving District 123 alumni received the Helen Whalen Higher Education Scholarship Award on May 13th at Hometown School and will be attending an accredited institution of higher education. The qualifications for applying for this scholarship are graduating seniors who:
- Attended an elementary school in District 123 for at least four (4) years.
- Are in the upper 25% of their class
- Plan to attend an accredited institution of higher education
The committee also considers these factors important in judging the applications and selecting the winners:
- The desire for higher education
- High scholastic standing
- Good character
- Leadership ability
This year the PTA Council had eleven high school seniors complete the scholarship application. Each student is required to list their honors, positions of leadership, and volunteer work that they have held throughout high school years. GPA and ACT/SAT scores are also factors as well as writing an essay which was graded by a panel of six unbiased judges. The scores were averaged and the highest scoring applications were from Carolaine Gillespie, Nancy Kane, and Jack Travnik.
“On behalf of myself, and the District 123 Board of Education I would like to extend my congratulations to the Helen Whalen Scholarship recipients this year. You each have left your impact on District 123 and it’s no surprise that you’re here today. Your continued success is our goal as a District, to watch you succeed from your time here to high school and now in college and beyond,” said Superintendent Paul Enderle.
The Helen Whalen Higher Education Scholarship has been a part of the District 123 PTA for decades. It is given in honor of a Hometown PTA president that went on to become state District PTA president and School Board president, Helen Whalen.