$250,000 awarded to SHS seniors

SANDPOINT – The community’s teachers, families, and administration came together to celebrate the awarding of $250,000 in local scholarships to graduating seniors and Sandpoint High School alumni.

Graduating seniors, with their families gathered at SHS on Tuesday to be presented with local scholarship awards.

Through donations, fundraisers, volunteers, and organization partnerships, SHS consistently sees support from the community, Jeralyn Mire, postsecondary transition counselor at Sandpoint High School, said. graduation season is a time when the community shows even more generosity by creating and awarding SHS grads scholarships.

“The community is amazing,” Mire said. ”It’s staggering for me, I mean, the fact even our bus drivers raise money for our seniors. It’s amazing”

Some of these opportunities also come from community members wanting to give back, such as the GALA Scholarship, founded by SHS graduate Garret Smith, a member of the Class of 1992, who wanted not only to give back to his community but to pay homage to four SHS teachers who had a heavy impact on him.

“I think it's just exciting to note that many of the groups are trying to support students in there as they continue on down the post-secondary path,” Mire said

There are 80 different scholarship opportunities available to LPOSD seniors, and some are only available to graduating seniors at SHS. Many of these opportunities went to more than one SHS senior which brought the grand total of awarded scholarships to a whopping 200 and totalling$193,000.

In addition, $57,000 was awarded to SHS alumni who have graduated and are in college. This brought the grand total of awarded scholarships to $250,000.

These scholarship opportunities come from local chapters of national organizations like the Sandpoint and Ponderay chapters of the Rotary Club; locally funded or founded organizations, such as the Pend Oreille Arts Council; and even Sandpoint families like the Orton family who remember Patrick Orton with the Live Your Dreams scholarship. A true testament to the generosity found in Sandpoint.