ROCHESTER – Superintendent Kyle Repucci and Rochester Public Schools are proud to share that the Spaulding High School Scholarship Awards Ceremony, a decades-long tradition, will be held on Wednesday, May 25, 2022, at 6:30 p.m. in the Spaulding High School Auditorium.
The Scholarship Awards Ceremony is a historic, and community-wide effort, which includes scholarships that date back to the 1960s, and in one instance to the 1930s.
Spaulding High School Deputy Principal Margaret Callahan, said 74 scholarships, worth more than $187,000, will be distributed this year.
Angela Green, Principal’s Secretary, who organizes most of the event, said individual community members, families, organizations, and even elementary school parent teacher associations provide scholarships for Spaulding seniors each year.
“I’ve worked in other districts with scholarship events and the way the City of Rochester comes together to support scholarships here is quite impressive,” Callahan said. “Local residents raise money, and set money aside to honor their loved ones. It’s a lot of work, which has an incredibly positive impact on our schools and the lives of our graduates. There is just so much good in it.”
Other scholarships with deep community roots include newer funds, created in memory of individuals who cared deeply for the city.
The Tracy J. Boyle Memorial Scholarship is one such scholarship fund, formed in 2017 in recognition of the life of Tracy J. Boyle, wife of Spaulding High School Teacher Kevin Boyle.Tracy J. Boyle died unexpectedly of a brain aneurysm just after Christmas in 2016. Kevin Boyle, his two teenage daughters and in-laws, Dick and Jane Hall, of Keene, N.H., decided to request that donations to a future scholarship fund be made in Tracy’s name in lieu of flowers at her services.
That initial effort led to the family raising about $15,000 in the month after Tracy’s death. The family’s fundraising efforts have now exceeded $45,000, and the funding has been used to create scholarship funds to benefit students at Spaulding High School, in Tracy’s hometown of Keene, and in Dover, where the couple raised their daughters together.
“My in-laws and I wanted to put something in place that does good in Tracy’s name,” Kevin Boyle said. “As painful as it was to lose her, now every year we have something to look back upon and say, at least this came out of her loss.”
Tracy Boyle was employed at University of New Hampshire for 18 years. She started in a temporary position as a financial analyst, and rose to become the Senior Financial Director within the university’s Facilities Department. In her honor, the scholarships now go to women who are entering traditionally male-dominated fields such as STEM and finance, as well as women entering medical fields.
Angela Green added, “Many family members and organizations create a trust in the memory or honor of their loved ones or colleagues to help deserving Spaulding seniors achieve their goals and dreams of furthering their education after high school. We are fortunate and grateful for the amount of community support.”
“Our annual Scholarship Awards Ceremony is an incredible example of a community coming together to support education and young people who are about to step away from Rochester and into higher education opportunities,” said Superintendent Repucci. “I want to express my gratitude, and the gratitude of everyone at Spaulding High School, for the inspiring support, hard work, and dedication of our community when it comes to supporting our seniors and their education.”
To view a full list of the 74 scholarships that will be awarded this year, click here.