Introduction to Award Ceremony 2011

Since its inception, the Irvington High School Scholarships have been presented at the awards ceremony at the high school in June. The plan was initially to award one award for $1,000, to be renewed each year the student is in good academic standing in college, with letters of recommendation from his/her professors. In the case of the past two years, the nominees have been so outstanding and the recommendations of their high school teachers and counselors so overwhelming, two scholarships have been awarded. Photographs of the awards ceremony, the recipients of this year and recipients of past years are posted with the link to photographs. Dolani Ajanaku and Dahanah Sejour, the recipients for 2011, wrote us their comments which are posted below. These young scholars are dedicated students who are involved in their community and have aspirations to make this world a better place. Our legacy through this scholarship/mentoring program is enriched because of these young people.

Dehanah writes: “Once again thank you for this scholarship. It is individuals like you all that continue to give me that push and encouragement as I strive for success; I hope that I do not let you all down. May the Lord continue to bless you all. Thank you. P.S. I am so excited."

Dolani writes: "I am extremely thankful and grateful of being a recipient of the IHS Alumni Scholarship. I will be attending Rutgers University with an intended major in biological science. I can’t wait to start college in the fall and begin the new educational journey. Thanks again."

Comments from previous winners are quoted in Nancy Sieffert’s event summary.

To all of the contributors to the scholarship/mentoring fund, we say thank you. This is truly a legacy worthy of our classes.

Just a note! This was the first time your committee tried to video tape the awards ceremony. Since we are not professionals at this, at least not yet, we know that the audio is difficult to hear. We've tried making adjustments, but we were too far from the speakers during the taping . This will be corrected next year. Please enjoy the video just to get the "flavor" of the wonderful ceremony, but we hope next year's taping will be better. We welcome assistance from any alumni members who have experience with video taping. Just email us if you are interested in helping out.

On another note, we hope you are as proud of the scholarship program as your committee is and take pride in the meaningful outcomes of all your generous donations. While letters will go to classmates in the fall asking for continued donations, you are welcome to send a contribution at any time to our treasurer, Nancy Sieffert, 1090 Sunny Slope Drive, Mountainside, NJ 07092. Your contribution will be acknowledged with a letter from Nancy and it is 100% tax deductible. Checks should be made mayable to the IHS Alumni Scholarship/Menoring Fund. Please indicate your graduation class year.