Marblehead High Graduates Awarded Sterny's Way Scholarships

MARBLEHEAD, MA — Two recent Marblehead High graduates were recently awarded $1,000 Sterny's Way Scholarships in memory of Marblehead youth sports coaching legend and avid arts supporter David Stern, who passed away in 2009.

Tamia Johnson earned the Sterny's Way Arts Scholarship winner after she completed an impressive four years at Marblehead High with a 3.31 GPA while she served as a leader inside and outside the classroom as a three-year class officer, as well as a participant in several sports teams, clubs and activities, including the Peer Mentor Program.

As a Peer Mentor, Johnson played an important role in helping freshmen get acclimated academically and socially to high school.

An active member of the METCO Program, the Boston resident attended Marblehead public schools since the fourth grade. She was a committed member of the cheerleading, gymnastics and lacrosse teams, serving as captain of the 2022 fall cheerleading team, as well as the 2022 gymnastics team.

As captain of the cheerleading team, she created the halftime routines for both the varsity and junior varsity squads. She also led fundraising efforts for the gymnastics team and assisted both the boys' and girls' lacrosse teams by videotaping their games to help the coaches improve the performance of their teams.

She volunteered at several food shelters and nursing homes, including My Brother's Table in Lynn, the Lafayette Rehabilitation and Skilled Nursing Facility in Marblehead, Community Servings in Jamaica Plan and Cradles to Crayons in Quincy.

She also worked as a gymnastics instructor and camp counselor at the Marblehead-Swampscott YMCA.

Johnson took courses in film production, film studies and studio production and will attend San Diego State University where she plans to major in film, new media, and television production.

Cody Selvais is the winner of the Sterny’s Way Sports Scholarship. He was a member of the National Honors Society, graduated with a 4.1 GPA and was on the high honor roll every quarter of his MHS career.

He also received the 2022 Principals Award, the 2033 Excellence in Mathematics Award and the Margaret Jancsy Award for leadership and serving as a role model to other students.

He served as a three-year member of the MHS Debate Club and was a two-year member of the Student Council and Marblehead Community Outreach Club.

Selvais founded a mental health support group for fellow students to help those struggling with remote learning and other academic and social challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic. He was a four-year member of the baseball program, played football and basketball, and volunteered with the town's youth sports programs by coaching a 12-year-old boys' flag football team for four years.

Selvais will attend UMASS Amherst this fall and will major in marketing.

Sterny’s Way, Inc., a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, appreciates the community's continued support to fund the annual scholarships of $1,000 to a student who has shown dedication to the Arts (music, dance, fine arts, etc.) and a second scholarship to a former Marblehead Youth Softball or Marblehead Youth Baseball player.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)