Whitehall Area Chamber Of Commerce

This year's essay theme was "What the Whitehall Chamber Scholarship Award Means to Me." From the 10 essays selected by the school faculty, the Community Affairs Committee selected the winner by rating the student's adherence to the topic, writing skills, community involvement and future plans for continuing their education. Our values don't focus on personal gain, but rather on what we can do to make tomorrow better for those whom we interact and influence. Below is Annemarie Tallarita's winning essay selected by the committee.

"The Whitehall community can be described as unique but not at all in an odd manner. In fact, Whitehall can be portrayed the same way that a diamond is portrayed, rare but worth of tribute. Diverse people and places define Whitehall and a new comer does not have to travel far to realize that he can go from a rolling farm to a huge mall in a matter of minutes, just by hopping on MacArthur Road. Both the industry and wilderness of Whitehall make the area a very priceless place to live. It would be a great ambition of mine to give back to the varied community of Whitehall and my plans for college at Kutztown University can help me to support that ambition.

At Kutztown, I plan to major in elementary education and gain a great deal of knowledge to help me proceed with my plans to be an elementary teacher. When I have to complete observations and service; I hope to come back to Whitehall-Coplay School District and give back to the students. With the help of my college, I hope to be placed to student teach at Whitehall and get a feel for the future that I could stir directly by educating. After hard work and some success, I hope that graduating from Kutztown is a major accomplishment for me and my early career.

While almost any job in teaching will be acceptable to me immediately after college, it would be my aspirations to obtain a career at the Whitehall-Coplay School District. I could observe how the community that I grew up in has matured and affected the young people living in it. I could speak to parents, students, and citizens to see what I could do to improve the generation. A teaching career at the Whitehall-Coplay School District would be an ideal way to contribute to a community that contributed to me. I also intend to play a role in future beneficial activities for the community.

During my high school career, I played a factor in the Whitehall tennis team by playing number one singles and doubles for two years. In my future I hope to volunteer with the tennis team or other sporting activities to help young athletes. I also enjoyed my years as a Girl Scout, and it would be nice to volunteer or be a leader with that organization in the Whitehall area. Even if I work outside the Whitehall area, I plan to return and somehow add to the quality of the area.

In the midst of the surface issues of my immediate outlook being of prom, summer, financial aid, and college; there is still one underlying question? Will I succeed in my future, and reach my potential? Can I overcome the obstacles that I know will step into my path? With the help of the Whitehall Area Chamber of Commerce scholarship, I will be one more step closer to reaching my potential goals and my dreams."

Chamber President Rich Celmer presented the $1,000 scholarship to Annemarie Tallarita at the Whitehall High School Senior Awards Night on June 5th. Annemarie and her mother, Diane, attended the July meeting at Fellowship Community to thank the Chamber for the scholarship which she will use for books and other school supplies at Kutztown University this fall.