Geibel senior surprised by scholarship
CONNELLSVILLE – Frank McGrogan had some inclination as to how his day was going to progress when he prepared for school Thursday morning. The Geibel Catholic Middle-High School senior knew there would be classes to attend and other daily responsibilities, but he was not prepared for St. Vincent College representatives, armed with an oversized check, in addition to his parents and high school officials, to descend upon his afternoon faith and justice classroom.
“I just don’t know what to say,” said the teen as he clutched the large check presented to him by St. Vincent admission counselor Michael Gerdich. “It is a lot of money.”
The St. Vincent “Prize Patrol” was the courier of the $140,000 Wimmer Scholarship to the Latrobe college. His parents -Dr. Frank McGrogan and Eleanor McGrogan of Mount Pleasant -along with high school principal Vincent Mascia were along to congratulate the young man for his receipt of the prestigious award and share in the accolades bestowed on the surprised teenager.
The scholarship winner is determined by a three-part written examination prepared by college faculty and given to qualifying participants.
“It seemed like a really hard test; I thought I did well on the math section, but the essay part was difficult and the general knowledge was really hard,” said Frank McGrogan.
With the full-tuition paid by the scholarship, it is now certain he will be attending St. Vincent and not one of the other universities where he has also applied for acceptance.
“I guess it will be St. Vincent’s,” he said, adding that his father is a graduate of the college.
Dr. Frank McGrogan said that he believed his son had a “very good chance” of securing the scholarship.
“He is a very talented and driven individual,” he said, crediting Geibel and St. John’s Elementary School in Scottdale for preparing his son for his future.
The family was notified a week ago of the impending award, but kept the news from him in order to carry out Thursday’s surprise event.
“He kept going to the mailbox because he expected hear something six to eight weeks after the test,” said Dr. Frank McGrogan. “We were very careful about who we told about it.”
The scholarship program, said St. Vincent director of public relations Don Orlando, was named in honor of Archabbot Boniface Wimmer who founded the college in 1846. The program is designed to recognize high school students with outstanding academic abilities and to encourage them to pursue a quality undergraduate education at the college, he added.
Eligible students are nominated by the high school principals, must be college bound and rank in the top five-percentile of their graduating class.
McGrogan’s receipt of the award is the third time a student from the local school has received the Wimmer Scholarship. In 1992, Dominick Galluzzo was presented the award and in 1995 Dana Newlin received the post-secondary education prize.
Prior to the presentation, excitement and anticipation filtered through the school offices.
A week ago, St. Vincent College representatives notified Mascia that McGrogan was the top scholarship winner, but the announcement was not a surprise to him, because the young man has been a standout throughout his four years at the school.
“Frank is a very good, well-rounded student,” said Mascia. “We’re very proud of him.”
The notification of the scholarship award and its presentation was kept confidential with only a few staff members alerted to the planned Thursday activities.
“I’d see him in the hallway and ask how he was doing, but it was hard to curb the excitement,” said Mascia. “I was so excited for him.”
McGrogan’s scholastic achievements have also earned him the USAA National Science Merit Award and he has been named in Who’s Who Among American High School Students. He is the president of the Geibel chess club, vice-president of the National Honor Society, captain of the Math League and member of the Quiz League, Spanish National Honor Society, cross country team and track team.
Orlando, meanwhile, said four other western Pennsylvania students received full tuition awards in the amount of $100,000 including Mitchell P. Youthers of Greensburg, a student at Mount Pleasant Area Junior Senior High School; Tanner L. Barnes of Lawrence, a student at Canon-McMillan High School; Chelsea A. Skonezny of Greensburg, a student at Hempfield Area Senior High School and Elizabeth DeLyser of Pittsburgh, a student at Baldwin High School.