MassMutual Awards Scholarships to 40 Local Students

(Springfield, MA) - Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual) announced today the recipients of college scholarships as part of the MassMutual Scholars Career Pathways Program.

This year MassMutual has awarded 40 scholarships of up to $5,000 each to students in Hampden County, Mass. and Hartford County, Conn., who plan to attend a local college and pursue careers in business, financial services or information technology. The scholarships are automatically renewable for four years if students maintain a “B” minus average or better each year, making them eligible to receive up to $20,000 of financial assistance over their four years of college.

“Expanding educational opportunities for local students is at the heart of MassMutual’s community involvement,” said Trish Robinson, Senior Vice President, Strategic Communications and Community Responsibility, and Deputy Head of Government Relations, MassMutual. “We are proud that our scholarship program helps determined and qualified students gain a solid education as well as helping build a strong workforce for our company and our region. We congratulate the recipients for their hard work and wish them the best in their future endeavors.”

In addition to the requirements of attending a college in the region and pursuing a career in business, financial services, or information technology, recipients were high school seniors, who maintained at least a 3.0 cumulative GPA and demonstrated financial need. Scholarship recipients will also attend annual career-readiness workshops hosted by MassMutual. The workshops will allow the students to explore careers at MassMutual and gain an understanding of the financial services industry. Scholarship winners may also be offered paid internships at MassMutual’s offices in Springfield, Mass. and Enfield, Conn.

Students applied for the scholarships earlier this year through the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts, which coordinates and administers the program. For more information or to apply for next year’s scholarship, visit the Web site for the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts at http://www.communityfoundation.org.

Through all organization-wide educational initiatives, MassMutual will provide nearly $2 million in scholarship funding to students in 2009.

Hampden County recipients: Lilian Barrera (Springfield Central High School); Samantha Bechta (Holyoke High School); Joseph Blais (Agawam High School); Chelsea Blanchard (Agawam High School); Laurence Cantwell (Monson High School); Emily Curtin (Holyoke High School); Nicole Flahive (Chicopee High School); Stephanie Flynn (Springfield Central High School); Andrew Fontaine (Holyoke High School); Sarah Fregeau (Springfield Central High School); Matthew Graham (Agawam High School); Kelli Gralia (Cathedral High School); Alexandra Labonte (Cathedral High School); Christopher Marini (West Springfield High School); Anthony Medina (Roger L. Putnam Vocational-Technical High School); Anthony Minicucci (Westfield High School); David Nataloni (Minnechaug Regional high School); Brenden O’Brien (Agawam High School); Jenna O’Neil (Springfield Central High School); John Paterwic (Cathedral High School); Nicole Rapa (Springfield Central High School); Jessica Setterstrom (Longmeadow High School); Jusob Shin (Springfield High School of Science and Technology); Alec Slepchuk (St. Mary’s High School); Mark Stevens (Springfield Central High School); Patrick Thompson (Holyoke High School); Kelly Van Buren (Holyoke High School)

Hartford County recipients: Aaron Baral (Conard High School); Fayyaz Bhinde (University High School of Science & Engineering); Cheyanne Clark (Windsor High School); Joshua Crapser (Bristol Eastern High School); Justin Lacy (Glastonbury High School); Egi Lagji (Simsbury High School); Joshua Leadbeater (East Granby High School); Matthew Parenteau (East Granby High School); Caroline Posnik (Wethersfield High School); Shanice Ricketts (University High School of Science & Engineering); Melysha Rivera (Glastonbury High School); Rajin Roophnath (University High School of Science & Engineering); Venice Sterling (Pathways to Technology Magnet High School)