By Craig Karlen (‘95)
MMMSF Steering Committee
Please join us in extending congratulations to this year’s Milton McPike Memorial Scholarship recipients. We were honored to once again have Milt McPike, Jr. (Class of ‘79) join committee member Jill Oelke (‘80) to present these awards.
The recipients, their colleges and scholarships are: Lamin Ceesay, Edgewood College, Milton McPike Legacy 4-year Scholarship; Cameron Cratic, Madison College, Milton McPike Memorial Scholarship; and Adam Putman, UW-Platteville, Milton McPike Memorial Scholarship.
The McPike Legacy Scholarship is presented by the Foundation for Madison’s Public Schools and the McPike Memorial Scholarships are presented by the Madison Community Foundation.
Once again, our alumni committee has volunteered to provide mentors to these three graduates, as well as four other scholarship recipients, for the next four or more years. We thank all who have offered to mentor scholars in 2016 and 2017. We would love more East graduates to consider volunteering next year. Please think about joining us in this service. It requires just a little time each month and no matter where you live, you can make a huge impact on a student’s success in college. We were thrilled to meet at East High in May to get to know six new mentees. Special thanks go to East High staff members Michelle Olson, Cynthia Chin and Sherry Barnsley for their help arranging and hosting this event.
Along with the McPike Scholars, we are again proud to offer mentors to graduates receiving scholarships in memory of Vice Principal Louis Swedarsky and East alumnus Matthew Vidulich, as well as scholarships provided by the Marquette Neighborhood Association in memory of East High students Becky Peat and Burkie Piper.
Last but not least, thanks to the generosity of the East High community, we have surpassed our goal of raising $100,000 for the endowed Milton McPike Memorial Scholarship Fund at the Foundation for Madison’s Public Schools. We are grateful for the generosity of all who have given over the last two years and we are proud to continue to grow our scholarship and mentoring program for years to come.
As Milt would say, “It’s for the kids.”
Visit us at www.mcpikescholarship.org or like us on Facebook at facebook.com/mcpikescholarship.