CLEVELAND, OH - April 2, 2012 - For 21 years, the partnership between the Cleveland Cavaliers and FirstMerit Bank has addressed the importance of higher education. Once again in 2012, 10 graduating high school seniors from Northeast Ohio received a scholarship through the Cavaliers/FirstMerit Bank Scholarship Program. Each student will be awarded a check for $2,000.
“We are honored to once again partner with the Cavs on this exceptional program and we are truly blessed to have so many talented students in Northeastern Ohio.”, said Julie Tutkovics, Chief Marketing Officer at FirstMerit Bank. “We are excited to watch these bright young students head off to pursue their dreams, and hope that they come back here to Northeastern Ohio to begin their careers.”
The recipients will be honored at a pre-game banquet and recognized during a halftime ceremony at the Cavaliers vs. San Antonio Spurs game at Quicken Loans Arena on Tuesday, April 3rd.
The criteria for awarding the Cavaliers/FirstMerit Bank Scholarships was based on applicants’ academic achievement, extracurricular activities and submission of a 500-word essay about the most important lesson they’ve learned in life thus far and how they plan to apply that lesson going forward. Also taken into consideration was their level of involvement in the community. Applicants also submitted a high school transcript, ACT and SAT scores and one letter of recommendation from a high school faculty member.
The Scholarship Application Committee reviewed all applications and essays. Twenty finalists from a pool of nearly 600 applicants were selected and interviewed by the committee, which included members from FirstMerit, the Cleveland Cavaliers and community educators.
The 2012 scholarship recipients include:
“These outstanding students make us proud as they go off to college,” said Julie C. Tutkovics, Chief Marketing Officer at FirstMerit Bank. “We look forward to hearing about all of their great accomplishments in the years to come. These are the bright stars of the future and we are pleased to work with the Cavaliers in recognizing them.”