By Bonnie Adams
Government Editor
Marlborough – Five Marlborough high school seniors will be receiving some financial assistance as they go on to the next step of their education, thanks to the generosity of their fellow residents. At the Marlborough City Council meeting June 20, three of those students were feted by Mayor Nancy Stevens and the City Council as they were announced as the recipients of the 2011 City Scholarship Fund.
Marlborough High School seniors Akshat Patel, Kristin Perdue and Eric Roberts were each greeted by the mayor and then received a round of applause from the council members and others in attendance. (Allison Richards of the Advanced Math and Science Academy and Jessica DeAmicis of Assabet Valley Regional Technical High School were not able to attend the meeting.) Each of the five students will receive a $1,000 scholarship.
City Council President Arthur Vigeant noted that the City Scholarship Fund has raised over $50,000 in the last 15 years, all through voluntary contributions via residents” municipal tax bills.
The tax bills have a voluntary check-off box where residents can donate and pledge an amount of not less than $1. Those donations, as well as any incurred interest, go into a special scholarship fund.
Vigeant thanked Marlborough residents for their generosity over the years, as he noted that donating any extra amount to the fund, whether it was $1, $5 or $10, significantly added up to benefit the young people of the community.
“This is an important fund and one that has helped so many students over the years,” he said.
In overseeing the fund, the city follows the provisions of state law Chapter 6: Section 3C, which deems that “the purpose of which shall be to provide educational financial aid to deserving city and town residents in accordance with this section and to establish a city or town educational fund, the purpose of which shall be to provide supplemental educational funding for local educational needs or to provide funding for existing adult literacy programs.”
The City Scholarship Fund is overseen by a special scholarship and educational fund committee consisting of the superintendents of the city's different schools and no fewer than four appointed residents of the city.
Each recipient must be a resident of Marlborough at the time the scholarship is awarded. Criteria for awarding of the grants include financial need, character, scholastic records, community involvement and extracurricular school activities. Each student submitted a personal essay as well.