School Committee Accepts Donations, Scholarships to Benefit Stoughton High Students

Over the past year, the Prone Family Foundation has made donations to and supported numerous causes in Stoughton, including the schools.

Last year, the Prone Family Foundation funded a number of scholarships for graduating Stoughton High students.

This year, in addition to those scholarships, the Foundation will donate an additional $28,000 to “benefit the students of Stoughton High at all grade levels,” Stoughton High Principal Matt Colantonio told the School Committee at their Tuesday meeting.

Colantonio said this donation would go towards funding a number of field trips, projects and awards that the school department could not otherwise afford to fund, including:

• A contribution to the fundraising efforts for the SHS cheerleaders, who have qualified for Nationals in Orlando

• Hardship scholarships for student-athletes in need

• Cash awards for this year’s 13 SHS Science Fair winners

• A trip to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for science students

• A trip to the Boston Symphony Orchestra for music students

• Musical instruments for children in need

• A trip to Walden Pond for 11th grade English students

• A Shakespeare production at Stoughton High

• Hardship scholarships for Summer School students in need

“The generosity of Mr. Stephen Prone and the Prone Family Foundation has done a great deal to benefit our students,” Colantonio wrote in a memo to Superintendent of Schools Dr. Marguerite Rizzi.

The School Committee unanimously voted, 5-0, to accept the donation.

The School Committee also unanimously approved scholarships from three local businesses to be awarded to graduating SHS students.

• The James A. Callanan Memorial Music Scholarship ($250) will go “to a graduating senior who has been an active member of the marching band for at least three years and demonstrated a dedication to further the continued excellence of the marching band.” The recipient is expected to further his or her education (not necessarily in the field of music) at a two or four year college.

• The Bob DiMatteo Memorial Scholarship (two scholarships at $500 each) will go “to a graduating senior who wishes to pursue an education in business.” The recipient is expected to be an active member of the community an exemplify “compassion, leadership, humor and unselfishness.”

• The Jake’s Way Back Burgers Scholarship ($500) will go “to a graduating senior who has a 3.00 GPA or higher.” The recipient is expected to have completed more than 40 hours of community service.