Receiving the scholarships for the upcoming academic year are Robert Brown Jr., a graduate of Pine Grove Area, and Lyza Holmes, a graduate of North Schuylkill, both incoming first-year students at Penn State University Park.
The scholarships were established through a gift from the late James M. Stine and his wife, Peg, and are intended to provide recognition and financial assistance to outstanding students who demonstrate financial need while pursuing their education at Penn State.
Students from Schuylkill County who enroll full-time at either Penn State's University Park Campus or Penn State Schuylkill are eligible for consideration. In addition to financial need, the selection process considers academic achievement and eligibility criteria established by the university. Preference is given to students pursuing studies in engineering, business, or science.
Penn State first identifies the most qualified applicants to both the University Park and Schuylkill campuses and provides those names to the Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce's Jim and Peg Stine Scholarship Selection Committee.
Finalists then complete formal applications and participate in interviews with the committee, which evaluates academic performance, leadership, and community involvement before selecting recipients and alternates for each award category.
The five-member selection committee consists of three individuals appointed annually by the president of the Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce and two members appointed by the chancellor of Penn State Schuylkill.
A total of eight scholarships are awarded each year, with two recipients representing each academic class — freshman, sophomore, junior and senior. Each scholarship is awarded for one academic year and may be renewed annually if recipients continue to meet eligibility requirements and funding remains available. The donors intended for the scholarships awarded to incoming freshmen to remain with the students throughout their four years of study.
Pictured with the scholarship recipients are Paul J. Datte, Esq., Lyza Holmes, Robert Brown Jr., and Robert S. Carl Jr.