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Burlington High School's Fogelberg auditorium filled Thursday evening with the particular kind of pride that comes from watching young people as they're recognized for years of hard work, as the Class of 2026 gathered with families, donors, and school officials for Senior Scholarship Night.

The event, held the Thursday before graduation Sunday, is an invitation-only celebration where seniors receive financial awards from dozens of sources: local businesses, community organizations, memorial funds, athletic associations, and resident donors. This year's ceremony recognized more than 100 students and hundreds of thousands of dollars in scholarships.

A program with deep roots

Two scholarship programs anchored the evening. The Burlington Community Scholarship Foundation (BCSF), which runs the Adopt-A-Class program and partners with Scholarship America's Dollars for Scholars platform, has distributed scholarships to Burlington students since 1988. At Thursday's ceremony, Principal Mark Sullivan noted the program has granted 12,786 awards totaling $10,993,691 since its founding — a legacy he called "extraordinary."

The Town of Burlington Scholarship Fund, funded by residents who check a box on their excise or property tax bills, awarded five scholarships of $1,500 each. This year's recipients were Christopher Peckham (Burlington High School, Worcester Polytechnic Institute), Haiyi Meng (Burlington High School, Northeastern University), Aarushi Dayma (Burlington High School, Cornell University), Madeline Belli (Burlington High School, Providence College), and Pauline Karavakis (Shawsheen Tech, University of Rhode Island).

In a statement, the Town of Burlington Scholarship Fund committee described the recipients as "club presidents, athletes, innovators, band members, honor roll students and dedicated volunteers," noting that applications are reviewed anonymously and selected based on merit, community involvement, and each student's personal story. "Each of their essays reflected grit, perseverance, leadership and a strong desire to create meaningful impact," the committee wrote.

The students

A range of students were honored with scholarships – and not all of them are BHS attendees. All seniors living in Burlington are eligible, including those attending technical, private, or charter schools. All they need is a plan to continue their learning past graduation.

Student honorees will be attending a wide array of postsecondary institutions: trade schools like the Peterson Schools, community colleges like Middlesex and Mass Bay, and four-year colleges from UMass to the University of Alabama were all represented. Likewise, students' areas of future study are diverse: from welding to criminal justice to neuroscience to musical theater.

The night's largest awards

Several students received significant multi-scholarship packages. Among the highlights:

  • Aarushi Dayma (Cornell, chemical biology/pre-law): Six scholarships totaling approximately $5,000, including the $1,500 Town of Burlington Scholarship Fund award and a $1,000 Burlington Performing Arts Parent Association scholarship.
  • Elizabeth Mansfield (NYU, chemistry): Three scholarships totaling approximately $5,150, including a $4,000 Thomas E. and Jessica C. Murray Memorial Scholarship.
  • Cole Waisnor (UMass Amherst, chemical engineering): Seven scholarships totaling approximately $6,500, including a $2,000 Adopt-A-Class award.

Remarks from school and town leaders

Superintendent Dr. Eric Conti addressed students, families, and donors, calling the evening "a truly special milestone in the graduation season." He thanked the donors in particular: "By providing these scholarships you were sending a powerful message to our graduates: we believe in you, we value your hard work, and we are rooting for your success."

School Committee Chairperson Catherine Bond echoed the sentiment, telling students their scholarships represent "far more than financial support" — recognizing "countless hours spent studying, participating in activities, serving the community, competing in athletics, creating through the arts, and overcoming challenges along the way."

Principal Sullivan opened the evening with a moment of silence for Jack Blais, a 1956 Burlington High graduate who donated $650,000 to early childhood programs in Burlington beginning in the mid-1990s. Though Blais recently passed away, his name lives on in the scholarships awarded Thursday night.

The bigger picture

Burlington's scholarship ecosystem draws from a wide range of sources, and Thursday's ceremony illustrated something larger than the sum of its dollars: the moment when a school community hands its young people off to the wider world, with a tangible expression of belief in what they'll do there.

As Burlington Buzz has previously reported, the BCSF averages up to $425,000 a year in combined scholarships, and the Town Tax Checkoff fund has quietly supported graduates for years through resident donations on tax bills. The programs operate independently but often appear side by side on scholarship night — both reflecting the same community investment in Burlington's young people.

Sunday's graduation ceremony will mark the official close of the Class of 2026's high school chapter.

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