Ten Islip High School seniors were awarded scholarships for academic excellence this year. Anthony Balestra, Theresa Colonna, Austen Couvertier, Maeve Gesualdi, Budie Kadir, Andrew Lithen, Sarah Marin, Gina Panarese, Bryan Ramirez and Emily Rooney have all been selected for the Academic Excellence Scholarship given by the New York State Education Department.

This program provides scholarship assistance to outstanding New York State high school graduates. Each year, 8,000 scholarships are awarded – up to 2,000 scholarships of $1,500 and 6,000 scholarships of $500 to top scholars from registered New York State high schools. Awards are based on student grades in certain Regents exams. In order to redeem the funds, the students must attend a New York State college in the fall.