Here They Are ... The 2015 Tino Fulimeni Scholarship winners

Back in October, at our Kansas City Learning Summit, we held the drawing for the 2015 Tino Fulimeni Memorial Scholarship winners.

Once we selected the names at random -- from a pool of 286 applications -- we went about the process of contacting the individuals and making sure they met all the qualifications. I am happy to say that work is complete.

Here are your 2015 Tino Fulimeni Memorial Scholarship winners. Congratulations to all the winners, their familes and the local unions and Career Development Programs they represent.

District 1

• Zachary Lalkowski of Copley, OH. Zachary is the son of USW Local 979 member Richard Lalkowski, USW/ArcelorMittal-Cleveland.

District 2

• KyOnna Anderson of Ecorse, MI. KyOnna is the granddaughter of USW Local 1299 member Judith Anderson, USW/USS-Great Lakes.

District 7

• Jacob Murray of Sawyer, MI. Jacob is the son of USW Local 6787 member Jeff Murray, USW/ArcelorMittal-Burns Harbor.
• Tasia Simmons of Michigan City, IN. Tasia is the daughter of USW Local 6787 member Rosmary Adams, USW/ArcelorMittal-Burns Harbor.
• Charity Vallangeon of Porter, IN. Charity is the daughter of USW Local 6787 member Guy Vallangeon, USW/ArcelorMittal-Burns Harbor.

District 9

• Carly Parker of Northport, AL. Carly is the daughter of USW Local 351 member Ted Parker, USW/BFGoodrich-Tuscaloosa.
• Artissia Scott of Fayetteville, NC is the daughter of USW Local 959 member Connie Washington, USW/Goodyear-Fayetteville.

District 10

• Austin Schmittler of Grove City, OH. Austin is the son of USW Local 1138 member Gary Schmittler, USW/ATI-Vandergrift.

District 12

• Kelsey Wichman of Lodi, CA. Kelsey is the daughter of USW Local 1440 member Chris Wichman, USW/USS-POSCO.
• Joseph Wilkes of Vallejo, CA. Joseph is the son of USW Local 1440 member Timothy Lear, USW/USS-POSCO. 

The Tino Fulimeni Scholarship Program would not be possible without the generous support of individual and local union donations, as well as various fundraising efforts by local Career Development Programs themselves. This year, we would like to publicly acknowledge Valorie Aguilera, PC-Plus! and Bill Needles, the USW/ArcelorMittal-Indiana Harbor East JobLink Learning Center, the USW/Goodyear-Fayetteville Career Development Program, the USW/ATI-Albany Ops and Millersburg Career Development Program, USW Local 1011 and the USW/ArcelorMittal-Indiana Harbor West Leon Lynch Learning Center and one special individual, Sandy Hartman.

John Hartman was a friend to many of us, and we remember him fondly since his passing late last year (John, what do you make of these Bears?). Nobody worked harder on behalf of the Tino Fulimeni Memorial Scholarship than John. At this year's Inaugural John W. Hartman Memorial and Leon Lynch Learning Center Golf Outing, all proceeds were donated to the scholarship fund. Sandy approached me afterward, saying she wanted to personally match the donation. I tried to refuse, but Sandy insisted. She said the scholarship was John's baby and she wanted to honor his legacy with the donation. To this day, I remain so touched by her gesture. I will never forget what she did, just as we will never forget John.