From 23 applications from area high school seniors, the Riverside Kiwanis’ Scholarship Committee awarded $4,500 to six scholarship recipients on May 7. Scholarship nominees are selected from among area high school students residing in Riverside and North Riverside.

Funds for these scholarships, awarded by the club for the past 23 years, are raised through the Kiwanis Club’s annual Peanut Fund Drive, scheduled in September of each year. The awards are based upon community service, leadership, scholastic achievement and economic need. The recipients are:

Marilyn J. Boskey, Trinity High School

Marilyn and her mother reside in North Riverside. She will attend Drake University in Des Moines this fall, where she will major in political science. Marilyn was co-captain of the Trinity golf team and president of the Youth Group. When her mother, Virginia, was down with a prolonged illness recently, Marilyn took charge of the household while still maintaining her 4.3 GPA and several jobs.

Caroline Gangware, Riverside-Brookfield High School

Caroline and her parents, Frank and Claire, live in Riverside. She will attend the University of Illinois in Champaign-Ubana, where she will be on the university dance team and study political science. Caroline was a member of the Student Association and RB’s Repertoire Dance Company, and president of the Orchesis dance ensemble. In addition, she was captain of the RB pom squad and has worked at the British Home.

Jordana Jantze, Riverside/Brookfield High School

Jordan will attend Vassar College this fall, where she will study political science and business. Jordana was an All-American swimmer at RB, leading her team to the state competition for the first time in the school’s history. She was a member of the Student Tolerance Association and the National Honor Society. She achieved a 4.6 GPA at RB, ranking her No. 5 in her class.

Michael Morrissey, Riverside-Brookfield High School

Michael’s mother, father and four siblings reside in North Riverside. At RB he participated in the soccer, volleyball and chess teams. He worked at the Riverside Golf Club and the Brookfield Zoo, all while achieving a 3.7 GPA in high school. Mike hopes to teach high school math one day because, as he puts it, “I like kids.”

Mike was also deeply involved with Special Olympics through the years, and “Best Buddies” (a mentoring program for children who are mentally challenged). He will attend Temple University in Philadelphia this fall, where he will major in mathematics and secondary education.

Tom Sargent, Nazareth Academy

A North Riverside resident, Tom will attend Lake Forest College this fall where he will major in communications or psychology. He hopes to be a high school counselor and athletic coach one day.

At Nazareth he was captain of the football team and played four years of baseball. He was a member of the Law Club, Latin Club and the Roadrunner Club. He participated on the school board, as well as community service projects and the Kairos retreat where he was a leader. He was also in Nazareth’s spring musical and fall play.

Rachel Teune, Riverside-Brookfield High School

Rachel lives in Riverside with her parents, Steven and Gale Teune. She will attend Washington University in St. Louis this fall where she will likely study for a career in medicine. At RB she was a member of the National Honor Society, an Illinois State Scholar, and was awarded AP Scholar with Distinction.

She also was a member of the volleyball team, the Student Association, the Association of Students for Tolerance, and the Robotics Club.

At Riverside Presbyterian Church, Rachel was the student leader of the Senior High Fellowship Group. She led groups on missions to Florida, Puerto Rico and Kentucky. She has performed numerous volunteer tasks for her community, including Sunday school, Meals on Wheels, The Hope Center of Alcoholics Anonymous, The Christian Industrial league, Bible school study, choir, Caring Christmas volunteer and the British Home.

Rachel performed all of these tasks while holding down several jobs and achieving a No. 1 ranking in her graduating class with a 4.8 GPA.

On Campus

 Riverside resident Jason Prestinario was presented with the John B. Esmaker S.J.-Edward L. Fergus S.J. Science Award at the 136th Annual Commencement Ceremony held June 3 at St. Ignatius College Prep in Chicago. The award is presented in honor of two St. Ignatius alumni, outstanding physics teachers, who, together, dedicated well over a half-century to developing the sciences at St. Ignatius.

 Recent Riverside-Brookfield High School graduate Anthony Avina has been awarded an International Engineering Scholarship from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. The award includes a $1,000 scholarship, help with round-trip airfare to any study destination worldwide and $3,000 per semester for one or two semesters abroad.

He plans to study computer science at Illinois in the fall.

 Brookfield resident Greg Slzak was one of 12 Lyons Township High School students recently recognized for their volunteer service to the school and community. Each of the students was given the President’s Volunteer Service Award, issued by the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation on behalf of the President of the United States to recognize the best in American spirit, and to encourage all Americans to improve their communities through volunteer service and civic participation.

Slzak, who volunteered between 175 and 249 hours between May 2005 and May 2006, was recognized at the National Honor Society induction ceremony on May 25.