High school students representing two area school districts have been presented with Peggy Madigan Memorial Leadership Scholarships at Pennsylvania College of Technology.
Joshua Belzer, from Montoursville Area School District, and Sara M. Swartz, representing Montgomery Area School District, both received $1,000 scholarships.
The scholarships are named in memory of the late wife of former state Sen. Roger A. Madigan. The selections were announced during the annual Student Government Seminar hosted at Penn College by Sen. Gene Yaw.
The Peggy Madigan Memorial Leadership Scholarship is open to high school students who attend the 23rd Senatorial District's annual Student Government Seminar at Penn College and then enroll as full-time students at the college. Roger Madigan represented the district from 1985 until his retirement in 2009.
The scholarship may be used to help defray the costs of tuition, fees, books, tools and other required supplies.
Applicants are required to write an essay describing the community service they have performed and the value that their service has added to the community.
Belzer plans to enroll in the heavy construction equipment technology: technician emphasis major at Penn College. He has been a member of the Future Farmers of America and was the recipient of the FFA Star Chapter Farmer Award. He was instrumental in volunteer cleanup efforts in September after flooding devastated the Montoursville community.
He is the 12th-grade historian at the high school, and he has operated a lawn-mowing business since ninth grade. Belzer also has worked in a local supermarket and hardware store.
Swartz plans to enroll at Penn College in general studies.
She has cleaned and washed emergency-service vehicles, fixed lights and designed props for a local theater, removed graffiti from inner-city areas, taught underprivileged children how to bowl, and washed dishes and prepared food at a residential treatment facility. She participates in chorus and orchestra at school.
