Ye Mytic Krewe Awards Treasure Chest Of Scholarships To Students

TAMPA, FL — Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla, hosts of the annual Seminole Hard Rock Gasparilla Pirate Fest and Ashley HomeStore Children's Gasparilla presented by Chick-fil-A Tampa Bay, are typically known for their plundering ways.

This month, however, the legion of pirates announced that they were sharing their treasure with eight deserving high school seniors from the Tampa Bay area. The recent graduates were awarded $53,000 in college scholarships as part of the Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla Community Fund.

Over the past two decades, the YMKG Community Fund has awarded $943,000 in college scholarships to students graduating from public, private and parochial high schools in Hillsborough County. Each year, Tampa Bay area high school principals nominate one student for every 100 in its graduating class. Nominees complete a comprehensive application, which is reviewed by a selection panel. A small group of finalists then complete face-to-face interviews before scholarship recipients are selected.

"Due to COVID, we conducted our interviews virtually this year," said Capt. Pete Lackman of Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla. "Even in this new environment, each of our recipients shined, showcasing strong leadership and dedication to their academic pursuits. We selected incredibly deserving recipients who will go far."

Each of the honorees excelled in academics, athletics and leadership activities. For the first year in community fund history, eight nominees received scholarships.

The 2020 Gasparilla Community Fund Scholarship Class includes:

• Kateri Espinosa, Gaither High School - attending Princeton University
• Phoebe Funai, Brooks De Bartolo High School - attending the University of Florida
• Yusuf Gultekin, Brandon High School - attending the University of Florida
• Jackson Hacker, H.B. Plant High School - attending the University of Florida
• Elijah Ketchup Jr., East Bay High School - attending Hillsborough Community College
• Isabella Kotopka, East Bay High School - attending Florida Atlantic University
• Sophia Kotopka, East Bay High School - attending Gordon State College
• Elijah Seay, Lennard High School - attending the University of South Florida

While this year's honorees were unable to experience a classroom invasion by plundering pirates, their announcement still included an element of surprise. Each recipient was asked to participate in a secondary interview joined by their family, only to be surprised with their official award announcement.

For more than 100 years, YMKG has hosted Tampa's signature Gasparilla festivities, the community's longest-standing tradition. The organization has a history of philanthropic support, including hospital visits, elementary school invasions and private sails upon the Jose Gasparilla with local pediatric cancer patients.

Past scholarship recipients have graduated from Hillsborough County schools, including Academy of the Holy Names, Armwood High School, Berkeley Preparatory School, Blake High School, Bloomingdale High School, Brandon High School, Brooks De Bartolo High School, The Cambridge School, Chamberlain High School, Durant High School, East Bay High School, Gaither High School, Hillsborough High School, Jefferson High School, Jesuit High School, King High School, Lennard High School, Plant High School, Plant City High School, Robinson High School, Spoto High School, Steinbrenner High School, Strawberry Crest High School, Tampa Baptist Academy, Tampa Bay Technical High School, Tampa Preparatory School and Wharton High School.

Past scholarship recipients have attended Barnard College, Brown University, Dartmouth College, Duke University, Emory University, Flagler College, Florida Atlantic University, Florida State University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Gordon State College, Harding University, Harvard University, Hillsborough Community College, Lee University, Princeton University, Queens University of Charlotte, Southeastern University, Trinity University, University of Central Florida, University of Florida, University of Miami, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, University of Notre Dame, University of South Florida and Yale University.

This press release was produced by Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla. The views expressed here are the author's own.