The Pope John Paul II Catholic High School Alumni Association awarded five $500 scholarships to local students recently.

An eighth-grader from St. Margaret Mary School and one student from each class at PJP received scholarships in the form of tuition credit for the 2008-2009 school year.

A PJP senior also received a cash award for college expenses.

Christine Barnhill, left, '€™82, PJP Alumni Association President Elect, awarded Alumni Association scholarships to current PJP students Ian Clark '€™09, Morgan Sergi '€™10 and Karleigh Barkemeyer '€™11.

Darla D’Amico, 1981, PJP’s first valedictorian, presented the first scholarship to senior Andria Dennis at the annual Senior Awards Ceremony on graduation day.

Lee Ann Rust Cosgrove, 1982, PJP Alumni Association past president, presented the eighth-grade scholarship to Lionel “Lonnie” Dutreix IV from St. Margaret Mary School. Alumni Association President-Elect Christine Barnhill, 1982, presented scholarships to current PJP students Karleigh Barkemeyer (ninth grade), Morgan Sergi (10th grade), and Ian Clark (11th grade).

The scholarship selection committee is comprised of alumni, teachers and other members of the Northshore community.

Scholarship applicants must submit a written reflection on the value of a Catholic education at PJP, and recipients were selected based on creativity, content and grammatical correctness of their essay.

Thirty-eight essays were submitted from students at PJP, St. Margaret Mary, Our Lady of Lourdes, and Lake Castle North Private School.

Christine Barnhill, 1982, president-elect, chaired the scholarship committee.

Other members of the essay selection committee were Ellen Rein Pierce, 1987, Babette Griffin, Stacy Subervielle, Tom McNitt and Betsy Woods. Lee Ann Rust Cosgrove, 1982, was the observing officer.

Proceeds from a wine tasting and art auction held June 28 will benefit the PJP Alumni Association Scholarship fund. For additional information, contact Annemarie Furphy, PJP Office of Development & Alumni Affairs, at afurphy@pjp.org or visit the PJP Alumni Association’s Web site at www.pjpalumni.org.