Hispanic Heritage Club Awards Scholarships to Six College-Bound Seniors

A few short months before heading off to college this fall, six high school seniors gathered with their families and several BNLers for a luncheon at Brookhaven Lab on June 4, where they each received a $600 scholarship from the Lab’s Hispanic Heritage Club.

Scholarships

From left: Beverly Agtuca, James Penna, Wendy Vasquez, Cortney Crespo, Krystle Kalouris, and David Rodriguez.

This year, the club recognized Beverly Agtuca of Sachem High School, Cortney Crespo of Longwood High School, Krystle Kalouris of Patchogue-Medford High School, James Penna and David Rodriguez of William Floyd High School, and Wendy Vasquez of Longwood High School.

These annual scholarships are supported with funds from Brookhaven Science Associates and the proceeds from ticket sales at Hispanic Heritage Club events throughout the year. Since the scholarships were first given in 2007, the club has honored a total of 18 high school seniors. Students from several high schools in central Suffolk County can apply for these scholarships and awardees are then selected based on academic records, recommendations, essays, and standardized test scores.

“This scholarship came in handy for me, and it also helped me with a career path,” said Kenneth Baumann, who received a Hispanic Heritage Club scholarship in 2007. He attends SUNY Binghamton and is now completing scientific research as a student intern in BNL’s Biology Department.

“The monetary part helps for the short term, but it’s the connections to the BNL community that help even more for the long term,” added Jessica Cruz, a 2008 awardee and a student at Marist College. She is currently interning in the Lab’s Human Resources Office.

As these six high school seniors prepare to head off to college this fall, the Hispanic Heritage Club and the entire BNL community congratulate them and hope that these scholarships help -- both short and long term.

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