Bill Brumbach Sportsmanship Award
This fund supports graduation awards for seniors graduating from Wilson High School who are known for team spirit, fair play, enthusiasm and a willingness to hustle. This award commemorates Wilson’s former athletic director who was instrumental in building the interscholastic sports program.
No application is needed. This scholarship is awarded by a committee at Wilson High School, with consideration given to all Wilson seniors.
Helen Monkiewicz Kubacki Scholarship Fund for Wilkes University
In 2003, Daniel Kubacki established the Helen Monkiewicz Kubacki Scholarship Fund For Wilkes University in memory of his wife. Helen was a graduate of the Class of 1936 at Mount Carmel High School. She received her RN degree from Reading Hospital School of Nursing in 1943 and a BS in Nursing Education in 1968 from Wilkes College. She touched the lives of many through her nursing practice and teaching. Daniel Kubacki passed away in 2007.
This fund supports scholarships for students who are currently enrolled in either the Generic or Registered Nurse Undergraduate Program at Wilkes University. This award is not eligible to high school seniors. Eligible individuals must have successfully completed at least one year in either the Generic or Registered Nurse Undergraduate Program at Wilkes University. The student will be selected based on academic and extracurricular accomplishments, and financial need. The recipient shall be a better than average student academically, achieving a 2.5 average or above. The scholarship recipient shall be someone who is active in school and community activities and has a strong desire to become a nurse.
No application is needed. Scholarship recipients are selected by faculty at Wilkes University Nursing Department.
Andrew J. Straka, Jr. Memorial Scholarship Fund
His family and friends established this fund in 2004 in memory of Andrew J. Straka, Jr.. Andrew was a 1961 graduate of Wilson High School, where he has an outstanding participant on the football, baseball and basketball teams. He was inducted into Wilson High School’s Sports Hall of Fame in 1988. He also played baseball for four years at Moravian College. Andrew passed away in May 2004 at 61.
The purpose of the fund is to provide an annual scholarship to a Wilson High School male or female senior who has taken part in at least two sports in each of his or her high school years. The recipient must rank in the top one-half of the class academically, but does not necessarily have to be the best academic student. The recipient should have excelled in athletics and displayed the qualities of exemplary character, sportsmanship and attitude, which are qualities that Andrew Straka portrayed during his lifetime. The annual recipient will be furthering his or her education after high school at any 2-year or 4-year college, university, vocational/technical school, academy, or any other educational institution.
No application is needed. This scholarship is awarded by a committee at Wilson High School, with consideration given to all Wilson seniors.
Marguerite E. Swartz Scholarship Fund
Marguerite E. Swartz (nee Addams) graduated from Wilson High School in 1937 and remained fond of Wilson all of her life. She spent her youth on a farm along State Hill Road and operated a deli stand at the Shillington Farmers Market. Marguerite passed away in 2001.
She established this fund through her will to be used for scholarships for seniors graduating from Wilson High School who have a financial need and for former Wilson High School graduates who have a financial need.
In order to apply, applicants must have achieved a cumulative GPA of at least 2.75 in high school, and must have attended only Wilson High School in grades 11 & 12. Decisions will be based on academics, character, and financial need.
Christopher Whitehead Memorial Fund
This fund honors the memory of Christopher Whitehead, who was a Wilson student at the time of his accidental death. This fund provides awards to graduating seniors from Wilson High School who have suffered from and overcome physical difficulties to lead a positive life.
No application is needed. This scholarship is awarded by the Wilson High School Counseling Office.
Michael S. Ziolkowski Memorial Scholarship Fund
The purpose of the fund is to provide scholarships to both male and female graduates of Wilson High School who have participated in sports at Wilson. The recipients will be pursuing college degrees and will be playing sports in college. The scholarship recipients shall be better than average students academically, achieving at least a B average. The recipients should be active in working with youth to teach them about sports and sportsmanship. The ideal candidate will possess the characteristics exemplified by Michael Ziolkowski: high character, good sportsmanship, and a zest for life.
No application is needed. This scholarship is awarded by a committee at Wilson High School, with consideration given to all Wilson seniors.
Wilson Scholarship Fund
This fund supports scholarships for students graduating from Wilson High School who are pursuing post-secondary education of any kind (college, university, trade or technical school) and have balanced extracurricular activities with academics, participated in activities that serve others, and shown academic improvement during their secondary education years. Recipients must have demonstrated motivation, good behavior, school spirit, a sense of purpose, and have a financial need. Applicants may be required to participate in an interview.
In 2015, the scholarship fund received its largest donation, which was featured in the Reading Eagle.
Excerpts from the article:
Gary Coller isn’t a wealthy businessman or the heir to a great fortune. The former Wilson School Board member is a retired teacher who also drove a bus for years, and he owns a modest house in West Lawn.
Yet Coller donated $100,000 to the Wilson Scholarship Fund, which has been helping Wilson High School graduates go to college for nearly 20 years.
“I just think it’s phenomenal that he did that,” said Dr. Rudy Ruth, Wilson superintendent.
Coller is chairman of the scholarship fund committee and decided to make the donation in honor of his parents, Vivian and Earl R. “Dick” Coller, who live in Reading. The fund is administered by the Berks County Community Foundation.
Gary taught science and driver education in the Reading School District, drove a Wilson school bus and was the district’s transportation supervisor in the late 1970s and early ’80s. He drove a bus in the Wyomissing and Gov. Mifflin school districts for 12 years after his retirement. He was on the Wilson School Board for nearly 25 years.
“I’m not well off – not by any means,” Gary said. “But my parents and grandparents taught me to live within my means.”
His donation came from his investments as well as investments that were passed down from his father and grandfather.
Gary originally intended to leave the money to the scholarship fund in his will, but decided he would much rather give it now and have the chance to see students benefit…
It was around the time the “Pay It Forward” movie came out that Gary became a member of the scholarship committee.
He knew he wanted to do something to boost the fund, and started to work on a plan last summer with his financial advisor, Paul Marrella, who also sits on the scholarship committee.
Gary later called the Berks County Community Foundation to discuss his plan to donate $100,000.
“He wanted to set an example of paying it forward and I said, ‘Well, Gary, that would show them how to pay it forward,’ ” said Frances A. Aitken, the foundation’s senior vice president for finance and operations.
In the 19 years the fund has existed, the biggest donation after Gary’s has been $8,000 and the average gift is around $125, she said.
“He’s not a Rockefeller. He’s not a Bill Gates. And he made this gift,” Aitken said…
Bob Weirich, who is one of the fund’s founders and was chairman until about a year ago, was stunned when he found out about the donation.
“Gary has done so much for Wilson,” he said. “It’s unbelievable what he has done and continues to do.”
Larry J. Kramer Scholarship Fund
The Larry J. Kramer Scholarship Fund was established at Berks County Community Foundation by his family in 2013 in memory of Larry, who passed away in 2005. Larry taught math at Hamburg Area High School and Hamburg Area Middle School for 37 years.
This fund will provide scholarships to high school seniors who are graduating from a high school located in Berks County, Pennsylvania, and who will be attending Kutztown University majoring in Computer Science, Information Technology, Software Development, Math, or Secondary Education with a concentration in Math. Preference will be given to seniors graduating from Hamburg Area High School. Preference will also be given to applicants pursuing a Math degree or a degree in Secondary Education with a concentration in Math; however, all applicants who meet the criteria are encouraged to apply.
Applicants must have achieved a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or above, been active in school and/ or community activities or have held a work-related commitment, and have a financial need.
Alumni Association of the Reading Hospital School of Health Sciences – Nursing Program Scholarship Fund
This fund awards scholarships to Alumni Association of The Reading Hospital School of Nursing members and School of Nursing graduates pursuing an advanced degree.
Battle of the Badges Scholarship Fund
This fund was established in 2007 to support one or more scholarships for graduating high school seniors who are children of active police officers or firefighters serving in the City of Reading or who are children of retired or deceased police officers or firefighters who served in the City of Reading.
Applicants must plan to continue their education after high school at a vocational-technical school or at a two-year or four-year college, university, or trade school. Preference will be given to children of active police officers or firefighters. The recipients will be good citizens in their school and in their community and receive above-average grades in school, as evidenced by a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher on a 4.0 scale.
