Brookfield Student Awarded 'Young American' Scholarship

BROOKFIELD, CT — Western Connecticut Military Officers Association (WCMOA) and Patriot Bank joined forces to award 11 Fairfield County high school students with $12,000 in scholarships.

Michael Quinn, from Brookfield High School, was honored with the “Johnny Mac Soldiers Fund” Award.

Scholarship nominees and their families gathered Sunday, June 9 at the Ethan Allen Hotel in Danbury to recognize their successes and achievements and to celebrate their connection to their local community and the U.S.

"Our organization is honored to recognize these outstanding young men and women from our local communities and to see some of their costs of a college education eased. These future leaders are forged out of actions we take today – we are grateful to have Patriot Bank as our key sponsor to help these kids" says John Simonetti, LtCol USAFA (ret), President, WCMOA.

"Patriot Bank is honored to partner with the Western Connecticut Military Offices Association in recognizing these community-minded students," says Patriot Bank President, Richard Muskus, Jr. "Patriot Bank is invested in helping these deserving students get a head start when it comes to affording college. We look forward the many successes that are to come for these young men and women from all across our community."

Here is the complete list of scholarship recipients:

The Young American Award – Clayton O’Brien from Shelton High School
The “Johnny Mac Soldiers Fund” Award – Michael Quinn, Brookfield High School
The Patriot Bank Excellence Award - James St. Pierre, Ridgefield High School
The WCMOA Leadership Award – Connor Fay, Darien High School
The Cole Family Citizenship Award – Samahar Mehrtab, Bridgeport Bassick High School
The WCMOA Purple Heart Award – Chona Cubarrubia, Trinity High School
The WCMOA Combat Veterans Award – Michael Murphy, Fairfield Warde High School
The WCMOA Nutmeg Award – Christine Tong, Joel Barlow High School

The WCMOA Community Service Award – Willem Schuddeboom, Greens Farms Academy
The 99 Options Nathan Hale Award – Annika Brady, Newtown High School
The Grand Pre Family Award for Best Essay – Colby Bellone, Immaculate High School

Western Connecticut Military Officers Association is a non-profit organization founded in November 1958, currently celebrating its 60th year. Its goals are to stimulate love of country and supporting and defending the US Constitution. Its membership consists of women and men who served as officers in all branches of the Armed Services in both peace time and war. The WCMOA Young American Awards program is in its 36th year of supporting the education of young Fairfield county patriots.