Luke Spouses’ Club Directors Chris Wendall, Victoria Hagardt and PCM9GA President Ray Clements present a $2,000 Scholarship to Jewel Matanane’s mother, accepting on her behalf.
Christopher Mucha
On April 25, representatives from the PCM9GA “Golfing Niners” participated in the annual Scholarship Reception Dinner at Luke Air Force Base. The gracious hosts from the Luke Spouses’ Club (LSC) Board of Governors were President Chris Wendall and Scholarship Chairperson Victoria Hagardt.
This past year, the PCM9GA chose the scholarship program as its primary charitable endeavor.
It is the LSC’s mission to provide college scholarships to military dependents through their annual Scholarship Program and grants to on-base and local organizations. Last year, LSC provided $15,000 in scholarship grants to ten individuals. This year, they identified ten individuals who received a total of $22,000 in scholarship grants.
The PCM9GA was proud to donate $6,000 (28% of the total amount) to this worthwhile endeavor.
LSC’s motto is “Together we can Be the Change…Make a Difference!” This organization clearly makes a difference in the lives of those families attached to Luke AFB.
PCM9GA representatives and their wives sat with three recipients and their families who were awarded $2,000 each from our donation. These recipients represent not only high-quality academic standards but significant leadership skills and character. The LSC structure allows individuals to request these scholarships. A review board from Estrella Mountain Community College evaluates their applications, interviews the individuals and makes final recommendations back to LSC.
Our scholarship award recipients were as follows:
Jewel Matanane
Jewel is a high school senior at Paradise Honors High School where she holds a 4.0 GPA, plays Varsity basketball, is a member of the Key Club and is the Parliamentarian of the National Honor Society. Jewel will be attending Stanford University this fall. Her recommenders stated, “her skills are thorough and exemplary… she is a role model with an interminable positive attitude… and has the potential to achieve amazing things”.
Dreanna Willars
Dreanna is a senior at Estrella Foothills High School, is a member of the National Honor Society, has been awarded Outstanding Citizenship in AP Calculus, Outstanding Achievement in AP US History and holds a weighted GPA of 4.57. Dreanna will be attending Arizona State University this fall. Her recommenders stated that, “she is very respectful, has a genuine concern for others, strives to do the right thing and is not afraid to stand up for what she believes in.”
Daniel Coogan
Daniel is a senior at Millennium High School where he holds a 3.67 GPA, is the captain of the Varsity soccer team, the vice president of the Fashion Club, a member of DECA and a member of the Cesar Chavez Leadership Program. Daniel plans to attend Paradise Valley Community College in the fall. His recommenders wrote, “he is determined when he sets his mind to a task and uses his social skills and experience to maximize his performance…, an outstanding person…, he has the personality, drive, intellect and maturity to be successful.”
With education clearly as the “silver bullet” to improve society going forward, these and the other seven recipients are truly making a difference now and will continue to do so going forward.
PCM9GA is proud to have contributed to these efforts this past golf season.