ELLWOOD CITY – State Rep. Aaron Bernstine (R-Beaver/Butler/Lawrence) today announced four local educators who work at schools in the 10th Legislative District were awarded scholarships to help implement innovative, career-oriented classroom projects.
The scholarships were personally funded by Bernstine as a result of his annual mandated cost-of-living adjustment from the state House of Representatives, which he received Jan. 1.
“I have always believed in being a good steward of taxpayer dollars,” Bernstine said. “We hear all the time that there’s not enough money going to our classrooms, so I thought our local classrooms would be a great place to reinvest this money.”
The application for the scholarship was sent to 13 school districts, which employ a total of 1,289 teachers. A total of four teachers submitted applications, all of which received scholarships paid by Bernstine personally. Taxpayer dollars were not used to fund these scholarships.
Applicants were asked to submit plans for their use of the scholarship money. The plans were required to include innovative and creative learning techniques, be career-oriented for job development in the 21st century workforce and able to be replicated in classrooms across the district and region.
Winners of the scholarship were as follows: Karen Medved, Riverside Beaver County School District, awarded $250 scholarship; Matt Skoczylas, Ellwood City Area School District, awarded $250 scholarship; Sara Telesz, Wilmington Area School District, awarded $150 scholarship; and Ron DePorzio, New Castle Area School District, awarded $150 scholarship.
“I’m really excited to see these scholarships benefitting students in the 10th District. The money will be used to support a classroom reading program, a rooftop garden, travel costs for a national competition for gifted students and visual reality technology,” Bernstine said.
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