Windsor Locks High School Seniors Rack Up the Awards

Family, friends and educators gathered in the Windsor Locks High School auditorium Tuesday night to honor more than 100 graduating seniors for their academic accomplishments.

Awards were distributed to the members of the Class of 2012 seeking careers in fields such as nursing, automotive repair, teaching, technology and political science.

Each year the Windsor Locks "Dollars for Scholars" chapter hands out several scholarships to worthy students, five in total. In addition, the chapter's subcommittee administers all of the scholarships it distributes which total approximately $90,000, according to Chairwoman Nancy Levy. 

The Windsor Locks "$4S" chapter is one of more than 1,000 nationally that seek to assist students with reaching their post-secondary academic goals.

"All of the money that was given out was given out by a multitude of groups and families in town," said Levy.

Beside people who love education or who were past superintendents or teachers, over 25 scholarships were given away in the memory of a loved one. 

“There are some wonderful stories behind those awards that really make it special to me," Levy said. “It might not be a tremendous amount of money you're walking away with, but there's real thought and emotion.”

Each scholarship is different and meaningful, such as the one given by siblings who have forgone giving Christmas presents to one another, choosing to instead use some or all of what they saved and give it to a worthy students.

Then there are the people who have become accustomed to giving out such and award, such as the family who sponsors the Donald Douglas Cooke Memorial Scholarship, and are celebrating significant milestones themselves.

Levy feels every little bit is gratefully accepted by the students, "based on the thank you notes we get from the kids."

"Windsor Locks is not necessarily an affluent town," she said. "For a lot of our students, if they don't get some help, college is not affordable. I think it's import what we're doing and I think it's important that students know that someone cares what they are doing."

Notably, Levy says that most people on the scholarship committee don't even have children attending school in Windsor Locks.  They just have hearts to send kids to further their educations and meet their personal goals.