Two MASH seniors receive MLK scholarships
May 16—The Meadville Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship Fund has awarded more than $8,300 in scholarships to two Meadville Area Senior High (MASH) seniors.
Riley Fronce and Irulan Walker and their respective families were honored at a reception by the fund Sunday afternoon at the Tippie Alumni Center in Cochran Hall at Allegheny College.
Fronce and Walker now are among 153 recipients who have received a total of more than $240,000 in scholarships since the Meadville Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship Fund began 54 years ago, according to Armendia Dixon, board president.
More than 90 percent of the scholarship recipients have graduated from college. Scholarship amounts may vary and are based on earnings of the fund's endowment with the principal left untouched.
The two scholarships this year were awarded based on financial need of the recipients, according to the Rev. Melissa Burnett, chair of the scholarship committee.
To be considered for the scholarship, applicants must have a grade-point average of 3.0 or more with school attendance and participation in extracurricular activities among the factors, Burnett said.
Kevin Burke, a staff attorney with Northwestern Legal Services and a 1990 graduate of Allegheny, was the featured speaker at the reception. He encouraged the two recipients to continue to be "larger than life" individuals that they have been in high school.
"Anyone can be great, but when you make folks around you better — that's when you're making an impact," Burke said. "I believe we have to realize we have to uplift everyone in the community."
Fronce has a weighted grade-point average of 4.43 at MASH. In high school, she has been an active member of the cross country, indoor track and field and outdoor track and field teams including serving as team captain. She also has been actively involved in her youth group at First Christian Church of Meadville.
She plans to attend St. Bonaventure University in the fall to study sports management. She has been accepted into the honors program at St. Bonaventure. In addition to study sports management, shee will be member of its NCAA Division I cross country and track teams.
Fronce, a daughter of Jason and Dawn Fronce, was awarded a $2,090 scholarship toward her education.
She said her goals are to become a track and field coach at the collegiate level. Her ultimate goals include becoming a college or university athletic director as well as starting her own program for prospective professional runners.
Walker has a weighted grade-point average 5.54. She has been actively involved in multiple extracurricular activities during her high school career, including varsity cheerleading, personal tutoring and founding Smarty Paws Tutoring Club. She also has been a Pennsylvania Free Enterprise Week Ambassador, and a member of Mock Trial Team, school district comprehensive plan committee and MASH improvement committee.
She plans to attend Carnegie Mellon University in the fall to major in chemical engineering and minor in biomedical engineering.
Walker, a daughter of McKenzie Walker, was awarded a $6,272 scholarship toward her education.
Walker said living in a small town has taught her about work ethic, determination, kindness, volunteering, initiative and following her passions.
She said she wants to pursue a career as a cosmetic chemist to develop environmentally friendly skin care products. Also, she plans to develop her own firm to sell products with integrity that are kind to the environment.
Keith Gushard can be reached at (814) 724-6370 or by email at .
