Wakefield Students Awarded People's Credit Union Scholarships

People’s Credit Union announced Tuesday the winners of 2013 People's 8th Grade Scholarship, awarded to one student in each town that People’s has a branch location.  

The six 8th grade winners are: 

• Sarah Hackey from Curtis Corner Middle School in Wakefield
• Nathaniel Currey from J.H. Gaudet Middle School in Middletown
• Deirdre Irvine from St. Michael’s Country Day School in Newport
• Adam Parsons from Portsmouth Middle School in Portsmouth 
• Leah Sirmalis from St. Mary Academy Bay View in Riverside
• Laura Wilson from West Bay Christian Academy in North Kingstown

The scholarships were awarded based on school involvement, community involvement and the answer to an essay question. Scholarship recipients will each receive $500, but have the chance to increase that amount each year of high school. For each final grade that is an A, $50 is added to the scholarship amount and $25 is added to the scholarship amount for each final grade that is a B in the 9th through 12th grade. The maximum amount to be earned is $1,000.

People’s Credit Union also recently awarded $4,000 in college scholarships to four local students who were awarded the $500 People’s 8th Grade Scholarship in the amount in 2009.  All four winners received the maximum $1,000 scholarship. 

The four recipients are: 

• Maia Roth of Wakefield, who will be studying general studies at the Community College of Rhode Island to prepare her for a career as a certified music therapist or researcher.

• Mathew Ciociola of Bristol, who plans to study hospitality management at the University of Nevada, and hopes to establish himself in the casino industry.  

• Ryan Kearns of Portsmouth, will be studying business administration at Saint Anselm College and plans to work in the field of international business and finance. 

• Carley Shugart of Middletown, who will be studying health science at Franklin Pierce University to prepare for a career as a physical therapist. 

“We are so happy we can help local teens pursue their dream of college education," said Ellen Ford, People’s President & CEO. "Each of our winners are well deserving of this scholarship and we are certain they will be successful in the future."