High school is offering a scholar-athlete award

STRUTHERS

Struthers High School’s guidance department is announcing a new $8,000 scholarship that is available for one graduating senior. The Otis R. Heldman, Sr. and Jr., Scholar-Athlete Award and Scholarship recognizes achievement in both academics and athletics over four years.

Sandra Ross, guidance counselor, said “This is an excellent way to provide incentive to underclassmen to keep working hard both in the classroom and in their chosen sport.”

Heldman Sr. was born and raised in Struthers and graduated in 1931. He attended the College of Wooster and Youngstown College, now Youngstown State University. In the late 1940s, he was elected to the Struthers School Board for two four-year terms and was instrumental in the idea for a multi-purpose facility to be built rather than just a boys’ gym. He presided over the dedication of the Struthers Fieldhouse in 1951 and died last November. Heldman Jr., also known as “Bub,” graduated from SHS in 1964 where he was a member of the National Honor Society and the football, basketball and baseball teams. He was inducted into the Struthers High School Hall of Fame. He graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University in 1968 and was vice president of Zurich Kemper Insurance in Chicago. He was killed in an automobile accident in 1999 along with his only son.

The senior Heldman’s wish was to help a well-rounded SHS scholar-athlete attend one of Ohio’s premier private colleges or universities.

Applications for the Heldman Scholar-Athlete Award and Scholarship are available in the SHS Guidance Office. Requirements include a 3.7 GPA in college preparatory courses, election to the National Honor Society and two varsity letters in a sport sanctioned by the Ohio High School Athletic Association. The student also will have been admitted to and plan to attend an Ohio private college or university.

Applicants also must include a personal statement detailing the different, but complementary values and lessons learned from both academics and sports and three recommendations, one each from a teacher, a coach and a teammate. All applications and supporting materials must be received by the guidance office by April 1.

Future fundraisers are being planned to perpetuate the scholarship. The first fundraiser scheduled is the Bub Heldman Memorial Golf Outing that will take place in May.