Williamsville Education Foundation Awards Three Scholarships

The Williamsville Education Foundation awarded a $500.00 scholarship to a senior from each of the District’s high schools during their annual awards ceremonies.  After completing an application, three candidates were selected by each high school’s scholarship committee and submitted to the Williamsville Education Foundation Scholarship Committee.  After extensive review and an interview, one senior from each high school was awarded a scholarship.

Congratulations to the following scholarship recipients:

Williamsville East – Ali Mucteba Gokcek 

Ali Mucteba Gokcek is known as an intelligent, hard working young man who thinks about ways to help others.  At East, Ali is a Varsity athlete (volleyball), a sports editor for the East Side News, member of East’s Shared Decision-Making Team, French Club, National Honor Society, National French Honor Society, and Future Business Leaders of America.  Outside of school, Ali has been published in a number of publications, has taken part in several internships, and volunteers at Buffalo United for Peace.  During the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Ali raised money to help feed front-line workers.  In 2020, Ali began a Summer Refugee ESL Camp to help immigrant students who needed English language support during the pandemic.  Most recently, Ali and his brother started a fundraising campaign to build wells, donate toys, goods, and essentials, to orphans and families in Kenya.  Ali and his brother were also able to travel to Kenya to see their work in action.  Ali will be attending the University of Rochester in the fall and plans to major in Political Science.  He also hopes to attend law school and become involved in politics.

 

Williamsville North – Inwoo Shin 

Inwoo Shin is known for her strong leadership, logical thinking, and ability to work well with others.  Along with being a Varsity athlete (swimming), Inwoo is a gifted musician who has auditioned and qualified for ECMEA and NYSSMA Area All-State Bands as an alto saxophonist.  She is active in Student Council, Spartan MSDP, math and science tutoring club, Mock Trial, Distributive Education Clubs of America, Fusion School Newspaper, Superintendent’s Inter-High Advisory Council, National Honor Society as co-president, and Science Olympiads, where she qualified for a national competition. Last year, Inwoo founded the Medical Outreach Club, which was developed for students interested in careers in the medical field.  Inwoo has organized speakers, in-person demonstrations, and lectures by professionals in the field.  Outside of school, she volunteers with Amherst Youth Engaged in Service and the Buffalo Korean Presbyterian Church, where she teaches students beginning to read Korean.  She is also the organizer and founder of Zooming Bookworms Book Club for elementary students and has performed research at the Clinical and Translational Research Center.  In the fall, Inwoo will attend Princeton University where she plans to major in Biomedical Engineering.

 

Williamsville South – Andrew Scalfani-Cohen 

Andrew Scalfani-Cohen has always challenged himself with a demanding curriculum while being involved in many activities that reflect his enthusiasm and strong work ethic.  At South, Andrew is a Varsity athlete (swimming, lacrosse and cross-country), serving as Captain of the Varsity Swim Team.  He has been Class Treasurer all four years of high school, is a member of the National Honor Society, and is the founder and president of the Debate Club.  Outside of school, Andrew is a member of Velocity Aquatics, a club swim team. He also believes strongly in helping others through volunteerism and has volunteered with Friends of the Night People, Amherst Youth Engaged in Service, and the United States Naval Sea Cadets Corps.  Andrew has shared that he is obsessed with world events, public policy, law, and will be heading to Cornell University in the fall to study Political Science and Government.  After completing his four-year degree, he hopes to attend law school.