ERIE – The Manufacturer & Business Association (MBA) announced the winners of the 2019 Patrick R. Locco Scholarship Awards, during the sixth annual Manufacturing Day (MFG Day) celebration on Wednesday, October 9, at the Bayfront Convention Center, 1 Sassafras Pier.
2019 winners included: Kadyn Grow, Corry Area High School; Kiersten Roncaglione, Crawford County Area Career and Technical Center; Cole Simpson, Mercer County Career Center; Elaina Lawson, Erie County Technical School; and Abdulah Sadeik and Emma Johnson, Erie High School.
Other nominees included: Cody Nikolai, Deviaughn Hansbrew and Jason Campbell from Erie High School; Caleb Kafferlin, Drake McCray, Hannah Brewer and Ryan Weidner from Corry Area Career Technical Center; Adrik Mattis, August Lasko, Jarrett Huber and Sean Wheelock, Crawford County Career and Technical Center; Aden Mitchell, Dakota Mitchell, Dan Swanson and Salwa Salem, Erie County Technical School; and, Brayden Smiley, Colin Grove, Hunter Garland and Molly Rimko, Mercer County Career Center.
The Locco Awards, which are named in honor of the late Association Vice President Patrick R. Locco, a strong advocate of vocational education, were created in 1972 (then known as the Golden Watch Awards) with the sole purpose to recognize outstanding high school students who distinguish themselves in the pursuit of technical and academic excellence. To be considered for this prestigious honor, students must apply and be nominated by a teacher. Each school then narrows the nominees to their top candidates. Students are then interviewed by local businesspeople who ultimately choose the winners.
This year, the six student winners each received a $1,200 scholarship. Two winners were named from Erie High School thanks to the generosity of the family and friends of the late Al Mele of Mele Plumbing, Heating and Air Conditioning, who also was a staunch advocate of vocational and technical education.
MFG Day was presented by the MBA, along with partners the Northwest Pennsylvania National Tooling and Machining Association, Career Street, along with sponsors Ridg-U-Rak, Inc., UPMC Health Plan, Logistics Plus, MacDonald Illig Attorneys, American Turned Products, Eriez Magnetics, Widget Financial, Ellwood National Forge, Welders Supply, Penn State Behrend, National Fuel, Curtze Food Service, Channellock, Northern Pennsylvania Regional College, McInnes Rolled Rings, Reddog, PHB, Inc., Eastern Alliance, Matric, Plastikos and Micro Mold, the Erie Regional Chamber of Commerce, Edinboro University, Erie Strayer, AirBorn, Times Publishing Company, Z102.3, Jet24, Fox 66 and YourErie.com.
For more information, visit www.mbausa.org.
