March 28, 2024 11:29 PM
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North Star Youth Partnership Awards Grant McKee and Robert Caldwell Service & Leadership Scholarships to Area Students

Catholic Charities’ North Star Youth Partnership has awarded 10 Prescott-area students with Grant McKee and Robert Caldwell Service & Leadership Scholarships. Two students from Bagdad High School, six from Tri-City College Prep, and two from Yavapai College have been awarded a total of $20,000 in scholarships for higher education.

The program is named in recognition of Grant McKee and his cousin, Robert Caldwell, two of the Prescott Hotshot firefighters who perished in the 2013 Yarnell Fire. Annually since 2014, nearly $137,000 in scholarships have been awarded to 74 recipients, including those from this year.

The scholarships are awarded to students who are graduating from high school or community college and exemplify Robert and Grant’s giving spirit. All recipients are participants or group facilitators in the national Peer Assistance and Leadership (PAL) program, which North Star implemented in Yavapai County in 2008.

PAL, a proven national model and evidence-based program, creates a peer-to-peer environment designed to encourage teens by building resiliency and assets through youth leadership, mentoring and community prevention activities. Additionally, all scholarship recipients have an impressive array of high school activities, projects, and accomplishments, as well as their years of PAL program participation.

Cary Taylor, representing the Paul and Patricia Taylor Foundation, has supported the scholarship fund since 2015, in addition to American Legion Post 6 – The Sons of the American Legion in Prescott. “It is my honor to provide funding for the scholarship program. Grant McKee and Robert Caldwell served their community honorably. The scholarships are a wonderful way to remember their giving spirit and pay it forward,” Cary Taylor said.

Dave Caldwell, Robert’s father, and Grant’s uncle, said his son spent six years as a Hotshot, a job that was dangerous, but one he felt a calling to. His advice to the recipients as they move on to their next chapter is to find the passion that his son had.

This year’s Grant McKee and Robert Caldwell Service & Leadership Scholarships are:

Alyssa San Agustin, a recent graduate of Yavapai College, plans to attend a four-year university.
Amanda Kroll, a graduate of Tri City College Prep, will be attending Northern Arizona University (NAU) this fall.
Roni Moore graduated from Bagdad High School and will be pursuing a culinary career.
Grace Watson, a graduate of Tri City College Prep, will be attending the online Master’s University for two years and then attending in person, majoring in Cinema and Digital Arts.
Jenna Talentino, a recent graduate of Tri City College Prep, will be attending NAU where she was accepted into the Honors College and plans to major in Elementary Education.
Jillian Bradford, a recent graduate of Bagdad High School, will be attending Embry-Riddle to pursue a degree in aerospace engineering and designing spacecraft.
Kasey Talentino, a Tri City College Prep graduate, has been accepted into the NAU College Honors Program.
Lily Stein graduated from Yavapai College and will transfer to Embry Riddle in Prescott to complete a bachelor’s degree in applied biology.
Lucas Kroll, a graduate of Tri City College Prep, will be attending NAU with plans to pursue a nursing degree, with a specialty in psychiatry.
Matthew Bower graduated from Tri City College Prep and will be attending LeTourneau in Longview, Texas.

“It is wonderful to be able to support these young leaders as they begin a new chapter in their life and follow their own North Star. It is also special to have two sets of twins as recipients this year, a first in the history of the scholarships,” said Diane DeLong, senior program manager, Catholic Charities’ North Star Youth Partnership.

For more information, visit www.CatholicCharitiesAZ.org.

Catholic Charities Community Services: Founded in 1933, Catholic Charities provides care for the vulnerable of all faiths in central and northern Arizona through programs in foster care, early education, affordable housing, veteran services, refugee resettlement, and homeless outreach. Learn more by visiting www.catholiccharitiesaz.org. Social connections include www.facebook.com/CatholicCharitiesAZ and twitter.com/CCArizona.

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