PORT ANGELES — Stevens Middle School eighth-grade students Pursha True and Gavin Devore have been awarded the promise of a $32,000 college scholarship — $8,000 per year for four years — by the family of Gladys Christopher Pollanz, provided they meet scholarship criteria and graduate from Port Angeles or Lincoln High Schools on time.
Finalists for 2018 — all eighth-graders from Stevens Middle School — also included Wesley Batton, Makayla Brousseau, Rebecca Hernandez, Hannah Sugg and Destiny Smith.
The Pollanz Promise Scholarship was first awarded in 2005 by the family of Gladys Christopher Pollanz and is presented annually by the Pollanz family and the Port Angeles Education Foundation (PAEF).
“It’s a great program,” said Patty Hannah, who with Tina Smith has coordinated this scholarship as PAEF volunteers since 2005.
“This is a need-based scholarship, and it must be awarded to a child who couldn’t otherwise afford to attend college. It is very meaningful, as these students are the first in their families to go to college.”
Finalists were nominated by their teachers and the students were then invited to apply for the scholarship. All scholarship finalists went through an interview process. They will each be awarded $1,000 upon graduation from high school with a cumulative 3.0 GPA. They are also eligible to apply for a Pollanz scholarship their senior year.
“Each student performed successfully during their interviews so it was very difficult to choose just two to receive the Promise,” Smith said.
A 3.0 grade point average throughout high school is required to receive the Promise Scholarship upon graduation, and the scholarship applies only to a four-year school.
Currently, nine Promise Scholars are at Port Angeles High School.
“Over the years, 29 students have been selected. Some move away, and sadly, some don’t graduate,” said Hannah. “So far, eight have gone on to college.”
Gladys Christopher Pollanz graduated from Port Angeles’ Roosevelt High School in 1923 as salutatorian of her class. Pollanz worked as a legal secretary after the death of her father to help support the family rather than attend college. She worked hard through the years, investing in the stock market.
When she died in 2003, Pollanz left $1 million to establish a scholarship fund for high school graduates to attend a four-year college.
Annually, the fund grants scholarships to Port Angeles High School graduates, as well as those graduates achieving the Pollanz Promise Scholarship.
For more information about the Pollanz Promise Scholarship, contact Tina Smith at t.smithohara@gmail.com.
