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Category Archives: August 2024
Dunmore, Holy Cross students awarded scholarships
Twenty students from 13 different high schools in the area including Dunmore and Holy Cross, have each been awarded a prestigious scholarship through the James F. Swift Scholarship Fund administered by the Scranton Area Community Foundation. This competitive scholarship provides $5,000 per year for each recipient for up to four years to assist with continuing education expenses.
The following students are first-time recipients of a James F. Swift Scholarship: Noah Beckish (North Pocono), Caden Brennan (Carbondale), Jocelyn Brown (Carbondale), Holly Burke (Scranton Preparatory), Carolyn Chakiris (Mid Valley), Elizabeth Cummings (Old Forge), Celia Emiliani (West Scranton), Kate Evans (West Scranton), Nikauri Fernandez (Holy Cross), Emma Field (Scranton), Sarah Goetter (Mid Valley), Geanna Kirchner (Dunmore), Savannah Lockwood (Dunmore), Antonia Piraino (Lakeland), Allyson Stafursky (Valley View), Makenna Stugus (Abington Heights), Alexa Williams (Riverside), Sarah Wolfe (Riverside), Meghan Wong (Scranton), and Angela Zeng (Abington Heights).
In addition to the 20 new recipients, there were 57 James F. Swift Scholarship renewals in 2024. The following students are recipients of a James F. Swift Scholarship Renewal in 2024: Ava Aulisio, Emma Aversa, Jacquelyn Bitter, Alexander Bond, Jillian Brennan, Cameron Butka, Joel Cali, Sofia Capozzi, Kaeden Carr, Riley Clarke, Ryan Coleman, Alyssa Cosklo, Ava Decker, Jayden Evans, Erileidi Fernandez, Sofia Flores-Weidner, Hunter Geise, Sadid Hassan, Courtney Hazelton, Matthew Howard, Emma Illian, Elina Joshi, Michael Kazmierczak, Eliana King, Kendal Johnson, Lorna Lynch, Dana Mackin, Hailey Matechak, Sara McCormack, Finley McHale, David McKenney, Thomas Milewski, Connor Monahan, Ayman Mounota, Owen Morgan, Julia Murphy, Mia Muskey, Paige Pezanowski, Ron Prislupski, Meredith Purcell, Mila Racibor, Ritu Regmi, Taralyn Reilly, Lexee Risner, Michael Rodyushkin, Kayla Rose, Chloee Rumford, Ryan Salony, Michael Sewack, Gabrielle Snee, Christian Snee, Ethan Symuleski, Alexis Tanana, Benjamin Thompson, Martin Turi, Jayde Waibel, and Molly White.
The James F. Swift Scholarship Fund has awarded over $5 million since 2008, benefiting over 340 local students. Created in 2002 through a gift by James F. Swift to the Scranton Area Community Foundation, the James F. Swift Scholarship Fund supports higher education for students graduating from high schools in Lackawanna County.
Following Mr. Swift’s death in 2006, the Scranton Area Community Foundation gratefully received a significant gift from his estate to the scholarship fund, allowing many students from Lackawanna County to pursue their academic and professional goals through higher education.
The scholarship aims to provide an ongoing matriculation stream at Lackawanna County colleges and universities. The Scranton Area Community Foundation aims to award 75% of the scholarships to students who plan to attend institutions of higher learning in the Lackawanna County region.
Scranton Area Community Foundation President and CEO Laura Ducceschi praised Mr. Swift’s generosity, noting that “he has left a permanent and enduring legacy for our region’s youth. His scholarship fund makes higher education more attainable for generations of students.”
The Scranton Area Community Foundation partners with the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA) in the Partnership for Access to Higher Education (PATH) Program to offer qualifying students additional financial aid. Through PHEAA, scholarship recipients may be eligible for additional dollars toward their tuition.
For more information on the James F. Swift Scholarship Fund at the Scranton Area Community Foundation, please contact Brittany Pagnotti, Communications Director of the Scranton Area Community Foundation, at 570-347-6203.
Dunmore’s Max Forgione selected all-state for baseball as junior
Dunmore shortstop-pitcher Max Forgione has a lot to look forward to in his upcoming senior year.
Son of Derek and Autumn Forgione, Max set a goal to be selected all-state for baseball this season.
He more than accomplished that with his first team all-state selection. Max was also named to the All-Region baseball team and was a Lackawanna League Coaches’ first team all-star selection.
“It’s a great feeling being selected all-state,” he said. “It was one of my goals. My good friend Tommy Clark was an all-state selection for soccer. I wanted to be a part of that select group. That puts me at a new level now. I can now focus on the next level. And that will be having a great senior season and ultimately playing college baseball.”
Max is a commit to Saint Joseph’s University in the fall of 2025. He will study business/economics.
The hard working shortstop-pitcher batted .375 with 24 hits in his junior season. He hit three doubles, a triple, five homers, scored 26 runs and drove in 18 runs. He had five RBIs in a win over Carbondale Area March 29.
A hard thrower, he was 4-2 with a 2.45 ERA and 67 strikeouts as a pitcher. He threw six shutout innings giving up only two hits and striking out nine in the District 2.Class 3A quarterfinal win over Wyoming Seminary.
He was a PSBCA first team all-state selection in Class 3A.
Max is currently playing travel baseball with Baseball U. “This is my third year playing with them. The experience is great. The coaches are tremendous. There is not one coach who does not know what he is talking about. They are all so knowledgeable. The coaching and player development is outstanding. The tournaments are really good. I played in Georgia twice. There is great competition throughout the country.”
Max said he has also learned a great deal from Dunmore baseball coach Sid Hallinan.
“He’s my coach for three years now. He’s like family. He taught me how to deal with failure. Baseball is a game of failure. If you can’t deal with failure, you will drown.”
Max also,played two years of basketball at Dunmore. He is a member of the Health Careers Club. He has an impressive 3.95 grade point average. His best academic subject is math.
Hard driving and confident, Max said he learned a lot from his parents.
“My parents always tell me to keep a positive mind set and be confident in yourself. That goes hand in hand with baseball too.
“You need to think you are the best player on the field. If you have a negative thought, you will fail.”
He talked about what it takes to excel in baseball on the high school level.
“You need to go to practice everyday and grind. You need to put in the work. And you need to put in the extra work. You need to work out even harder on your own after practice.”
Max said he enjoys listening to music in his spare time and is a huge fan of both Dire Straights and Pink Floyd.
The soon to be senior stalwart is enjoying his time at Dunmore.
“It’s a great community,” he said. “Dunmore High School is awesome. I have a lot of friends here. The teachers are great. Playing baseball here under coach Hallinan and the other coaches is just a tremendous experience. I love it here. It’s a great school for sports.”