High school grads receive “Spirit of Manayunk” scholarship

This week, four high school graduates from Northwest Philadelphia were each awarded with a $20,000 “Spirit of Manayunk” scholarship towards the college of their choice.

The awards were presented at the annual Neducsin award dinner at Gemelli on Main Street in Manayunk on Tuesday by Dan and Luana Neducsin, owners of the local real estate development company Neducsin Properties.

Now in its 16th year, the scholarship program has enabled 46 students from local families to continue their education.

This year’s four winners are: J. W. Hallahan High School graduate Leanna Ashcom who will attend Chestnut Hill College for pre-kindergarten education; Masterman High School graduate Xin Shelley Lian who is headed to the University of Pennsylvania to study biomedical engineering; Central High School graduate Alexander List who is off to MIT to study engineering and business; and Pope John Paul High School’s David Nagel who will attend Elizabethtown College to study accounting and business.

At Tuesday’s awards dinner, Dan Neduscin applauded the students’ commitment to academics, sports and social endeavers while taking time to recognize each parent’s role in the support of their child.

“If there is one word that I can ask you to remember tonight it is the word volunteer,” Neducsin said. “The ability to work toward helping others in some capacity is a great personal reward to you and to those who benefit by your assistance.”

As part of the scholarship program’s criteria, the students all displayed active community service, high academic achievement and interest in extracurricular activities. They all had to be residents of Manayunk or Roxborough and display some sort of financial need for education assistance in order to be considered. 

Past recipients Drew Swift and Jamie Rosley attended the event, along with the program’s selection committee, North Light’s Executive Director Irene Madrak and Former State Rep. Kathy Manderino.

Applications for the 2011-2012 scholarship program will be available online in the fall at neducsin.com or northlightcommunitycenter.org.