Staples Tuition Grants are awarded each year to current and former Staples High School students to help pay their higher education costs. A group of this year’s 108 grant recipients is pictured outside Tuesday evening’s awards ceremony at Staples High School. / Contributed photo by Pamela Einarsen

By Gretchen Webster

WESTPORT — Legacy awards named in tribute to three men who left a mark on Westport schools were awarded Tuesday when the Staples Tuition Grants program presented Staples students and graduates with funds to help pay for college.

Record level of assistance

The program had an award pool of $400,000 this year, the highest in the 80 years of its existence, issuing grants to 108 recipients to help pay for both undergraduate and graduate studies, according to Glenn Payne and Lisa Hill, co-presidents of Staples Tuition Grants, who spoke at the award ceremony. 

This year’s grants ranged from $1,000 to $7,500 this year.

Three honored for helping others make the grade

Staples High School Principal Stafford Thomas presented the Staples Tuition Grant awards Tuesday. This year’s grants to 108 recipients totaled more than $400,000, a record amount. / Contributed photo by Pamela Einarsen

One of the newly named grants was established this year to honor Gerry Kuroughlian, an English teacher at Staples High School from 1966-2009. 

Called the “Dr. K. Humanitarian Award,” the award honors the teacher, who died in November 2021, for “his great sense of humor, compassion for the entire Staples community and a selfless attitude.”

Horace Lewis, head custodian of Staples High School and a custodian in Westport’s public schools for 30 years, died in December 2021. 

He was honored with the Horace Lewis Award as a tribute for his hard work and service to others.

A third named award, the Richard Berkowitz Student-Athlete Award, was introduced at the awards ceremony Tuesday by his daughter Jody Beck. 

A board member of the Staples Tuition Grants organization, Beck said she was proud of her father’s legacy to the town of Westport, not only for his work with the grants program, but also as a civic leader. Berkowitz had been a member of both the Representative Town Meeting and the Planning and Zoning Commission. Beck told the student grant recipients to “believe in your dreams … but more importantly, believe in yourself.”

Staples Principal Stafford Thomas, who awarded the grants individually to the student recipients, said he was proud that more than 99 percent of Staples students go on to receive a four-year college education. 

The Staples Tuition Grants program works year-round to raise funds for the awards presented annually to current and former Staples High School students. On Saturday, Spencer Brown, head of the STG marketing committee, supervised a jelly-bean guessing game at the Westport Fine Arts Festival. Funds raised will be used for next year’s grants, he said. / Photo by Gretchen Webster

He recalled his disappointment as a senior in high school when he was admitted to the University of Chicago, but had to turn down the offer when his tuition assistance package was not enough to pay all the costs.

The Staples Tuition Grants program was founded in 1943, with the goal of offering more than 100 current and former Staples students about 20 percent of the gap between their higher education costs and the amount they can afford, according to the organization’s website.

This year, 700 donors provided assistance to the grants program.

The student application process opens in mid-December each year with the deadline to apply for the next round of grants in mid-April 2023. 

For more information, visit the Staples Tuition Grants website.

Gretchen Webster is a freelance writer and frequent contributor to Westport Journal. Learn more about us here.

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