The McKeesport High School Alumni & Friends Association once again has awarded more than $40,000 in financial aid to 41 McKeesport Area High School seniors and/or graduates for 2010, a sum that reflects the addition of three new scholarships over the past year.

These awards either have been established through or are administered by the alumni association, in partnership with the underwriters and/or high school staff members. They are open to all seniors intent on pursuing post-secondary education, whether they are college-bound or headed to career or technical school, business school, art school or culinary institute.

The newest grants are:

— The Zon Fleckenstein Memorial Scholarship, established in memory of Zon Fleckenstein, a 2005 McKeesport Area graduate, by his parents, Jim and Lisa Roka Fleckenstein, and brother Zar Fleckenstein. First winners are Lana R. Bodner, Carly Pollock and Zachary Blacka. Each received $500. Bodner plans to attend Saint Vincent College; Pollock, Clarion University of Pennsylvania; and Blacka, Saint Francis University.

— The Bechtol Family Scholarship, a $500 award earmarked for a student planning a career in teaching. The first recipient is Lisa Bodner, who plans to attend Edinboro University of Pennsylvania.

— The Lou Guarascio Memorial Award, a $250 grant for a member of the marching band. The initial award went to Trevor Dujmic, who will attend California University of Pennsylvania.


Shown above are the first recipients of the three new awards added this year to the MHS Alumni & Friends Association scholarship program and representatives of the funders. Left to right are Mary Jane Keller, representing the Bechtol Family Scholarship; Lisa Bodner, winner of the Bechtol award; Trevor Dujmic, winner of the Lou Guarascio Memorial Scholarship; Lana R. Bodner, Zachary Blacka and Carly Pollock, winners of the Zon Fleckenstein Memorial Scholarship; and at rear, Jim Fleckenstein and Zar Fleckenstein, father and brother, respectively, of the late Zon Fleckenstein. Zachary Blacka also received the Kathy McCall Sportsmanship Award.

The remainder of the 2010 recipients, all of whom are going to continue their education, are as follows:

• Casey Bricker, Lydia Kinkaid and Rachel Rajcsok, winners of the Arthur N. Rupe Foundation Scholarship, in the amount of $2,000 each. Bricker is headed to Seton Hill University, Kinkaid to West Minster, Main Campus, and Rajcsok to the University of Pittsburgh. Established in 2001 by Arthur N. Rupe, a 1935 MHS graduate and a 2002 MHS Hall of Fame inductee.

• Dylan Rappold, Alijah Imani Buckham, Casey Bricker and Alaina Harvey, winners of the Mary V. Tomko Scholarship. Rappold and Buckham received $2,000 awards and Bricker and Harvey, $1,000 each. The Tomko scholarship was established in 1999 by Chris Casciato, a 1976 MHS graduate and member of the McKeesport High School Hall of Fame, in his grandmother’s honor. Rappold will attend Penn State Greater Allegheny; Buckham, Westminster College; Bricker, Seton Hill; and Harvey, Penn State University, Main Campus.

• Nicholas Ferraro, winner of the Walter C. Shaw Memorial Scholarship, in the amount of $1,000. Ferraro will continue his education at Washington & Jefferson College. The Shaw scholarship was established in memory of Walter C. Shaw, one of the founders of the G. C. Murphy Co., by his daughter, Elizabeth Shaw Gamble, a 1937 McKeesport graduate.

• Casey Bricker, winner of the Marlene Keller Farkas Memorial Scholarship, in the amount of $1,000 – Established in 2001 by family members to honor the memory of Marlene Keller Farkas, a 1941 graduate of McKeesport High School. As noted above, Bricker will attend Seton Hill.

• Julian Brown, Dylan Wysni and Kevin Eric Henry, winners of the Albert T. Fallquist Memorial Scholarship, in the amount of $1,000 each – Established in 2002 in memory of Albert (Abby) T. Fallquist, longtime chemistry teacher and varsity baseball coach at McKeesport High School. Brown will attend Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania; Wysni, Rose Hulman Institute of Technology; and Henry, Community College of Allegheny County. In addition to the above, the Fallquist fund provides continuing support to previous winners throughout their college careers. This year, 11 graduates will receive $1,000 renewal grants.

• Blake Guzewicz and Rhiannon Countryman, winners of the Nick Bakalis Memorial Award – Established in 2002 in memory of Nick Bakalis, MHS Class of 1949, by his daughter, Melissa Bakalis Milbank, MHS Class of 1975, and his wife, Eleanor Frum, MHS Class of 1951. Guzewicz, who will attend Penn State University Behrend Campus, received $1,500, and Countryman, who is headed to Allegheny College, received $1,000.

• Noelle C. Brancato, Laquala Jamison, Courtney Wright and Ivan J. Fleming, Jr., winners of the Justin R. Misura Memorial Award, in the amount of $1,000 each. Established in 2004 in memory of Justin R. Misura, a 2001 graduate, by his family and friends; offered annually to graduates planning to enroll in an accredited culinary arts program. Brancato will attend The Art Institute of Pittsburgh; Jamison, LeCordon Bleu Institute of Culinary Arts; Wright, Lincoln Institute of Culinary Arts; and Fleming, Pennsylvania Culinary Institute.

• Jenna Dunlay, winner of the Garden Club of McKeesport Scholarship, in the amount of $600 – Established in 2008 by The Garden Club of McKeesport, a volunteer organization located in Renziehausen Park that is committed to giving back to the community. Dunlay will attend Chatham University.