BRIDGEPORT HIGH SCHOOL ALUMNI AND FRIENDS FOUNDATION INC.
SCHOLARSHIP INSTRUCTIONS AND APPLICATION
The Mission of the Bridgeport High School Alumni & Friends Foundation is to
effectively prepare our students to be successful in the rapidly changing world of
the 21st Century. We solely support academic endeavors within Bridgeport High
School. Scholarship applications are evaluated based upon academic
achievement, financial need, and other criteria addressed within the application.
The Alumni and Friends Foundation is proud to be awarding 18 scholarships for
deserving graduates. One scholarship is $5000. Four scholarships will be in the
amount of $1500, eight will be in the amount of $1200, and five will be in the
amount of $2000.
The Tom and MaryAnn Mace scholarship is for a student that will be attending a
college or university in WV. It is in the amount of $5000. Mr. Mace’s biography is
attached.
Maxine Moose Bruhns, a graduate of BHS, and a BHS Alumni and Friends Hall of
Fame honoree, has graciously provided the means to fund three scholarships
designated for deserving FEMALE graduates only. Those scholarships will be in
the amount of $2000 each. A brief biography of Maxine Moose Bruhns is
attached.
New this year is the Mary Rogers Orr scholarship. It is for a student that will
attend a Community College or a Technical School. The student must have a GPA
of 2.5. A biography of Mary Rogers Orr is attached.
Four of the seven $1200 scholarships are made possible by area businesses. They
are, Diamond Street Car Wash, Mar-Don Inc. , Mine Belt Service Company, and
Drs. Murray, Murray & Groves. Our ability to fund more scholarships every year is
due to the support of our local businesses.
See your counselor for more information on BHS Alumni & Friends Foundation
Scholarships, including the Doug and Pamela Van Scoy Scholarship for students
who plan on attending WVU. (This is awarded by WVU) Mr. Van Scoy’s biography
is attached.
INSTRUCTIONS
1-It is MANDATORY that each applicant complete ALL of the questions and
provide ALL of the requested documents. The application MUST be typed.
Failure to do so will void the application.
2-The Foundation reserves the right to limit the number of scholarships awarded
if the application pool is not sufficient in number or merit-based applications.
3-The scholarship money will be awarded upon receipt of a copy of the paid
tuition invoice from the applicant’s chosen institution of higher learning.
4-The scholarship winners will be announced and recognized at the annual Hall of
Fame dinner banquet to be held on September 27th, 2014. If at all possible we
request that scholarship recipients attend this dinner.
5-This scholarship application must be submitted to Jane Byrd, BHS Senior
Counselor’s Office by April 24th, 2014.
BHS ALUMNI AND FRIENDS FOUNDATION SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATION
Name __________________________________________________________
Mailing Address___________________________________________________
Telephone Number _______________________________________________
1-The intent of these scholarships is to help students further their education.
How have you helped others during your high school career? Include school,
church, club, and community activities.
2-Will you be receiving any other form of financial aid or scholarships? If so,
please list.
3-Do you have any younger siblings at home?
If yes, how many? Are any of
your siblings disabled?
If yes, please list their name and age.
4-Do you have any siblings currently in college?
and ages?
If yes, what are their names
5-Write an essay of up to one page about the following statement.
There is a responsibility that goes along with the privilege of being a student and
an alumnus of Bridgeport High School. What does that statement mean to you?
PLEASE SUBMIT THE FOLLOWING WITH THIS APPLICATION:
1-Official high school transcript
2-Copy of ACT/SAT scores – Optional if applying for the Mary Orr scholarship
3-A completed FAFSA form – Not needed if applying for the Mary Orr scholarship
4-A wallet sized photo (for use when we announce the winners in the BHS
newsletter) – Optional if applying for the Mary Orr scholarship
FAILURE TO INCLUDE ALL OF THE ABOVE INFORMATION WILL VOID THIS
APPLICATION.
Signed ______________________________________________
Date ________________________________________________
Biography of Maxine Moose Bruhns
Maxine Moose was born in Grafton WV in 1924. She grew up in Bridgeport on
Newton Street from age three, walking to grade school on Simpson Creek.
Graduating from Bridgeport High School in 1941, she won a scholarship to West
Virginia Wesleyan College. WWII, declared in December of that year, impelled
Maxine to interrupt college and work on Glenn L. Martin’s B-26 Bomber in
Hagerstown, Md.
Graduating from Ohio State University in 1946, she married German-born Fred
C. Bruhns three days later. A political refugee from Hitler, Fred became a refugee
expert, and his work took the couple on a 15 year odyssey covering four
continents. Maxine taught English, worked for CARE, learned French and
German, and acquired a working knowledge of Arabic, Farsi, and Greek.
In 1965, the Bruhnses returned to America, and Maxine became Director of the
Nationality Rooms and Intercultural Exchange Programs at the University of
Pittsburgh-a position she currently holds. She works with Pittsburgh’s 35 ethnic
communities to preserve and promote their heritages through Nationality Rooms,
festivals, coverts, and lectures.
To broaden the University of Pittsburgh’s students’ international horizons, her
program has awarded more than 900 Summer Study Abroad Scholarships.
She earned a master’s degree in Education from the American University in
Beirut, Lebanon in 1954. West Virginia Wesleyan bestowed on her a Doctor of
Humane Letters Honoris Causa degree in 2007. She is a Distinguished Daughter of
Pennsylvania.
Maxine lectured at Bridgeport High School on international cultures, as well as
working abroad and has welcomed hundreds of BHS students to the Nationality
Rooms at the University of Pittsburgh.
Biography of Mary Rogers Orr
Mary Etta Rogers came from humble beginnings, born the fifth child into a struggling farming family on
Simpson Creek in 1925. Her life was forever impacted by the Great Depression, which dominated her
childhood. She learned to be frugal and make do, and even in her adult life, when things became easier
for her, she was still driven by the wise old saying, “waste not, want not.”
She was a hard worker at whatever the task before her. She made good grades, despite her shyness,
and graduated from Bridgeport High School in 1943, the first and only in her family to do so. With great
financial sacrifice of her parents, she went on to attend and graduate from West Virginia Business
College in Clarksburg – her first real exposure to a world beyond the farm.
In 1946, she married WWII veteran and 1937 Bridgeport High School graduate, Howard Orr, and forever
after was known in all circles as Mary Orr. Together they raised four daughters, who graduated both
Bridgeport High School and WVU. However, her ties to Bridgeport High extend beyond, as she served as
the school secretary for almost twenty years, from 1967-1986.
Mary was keenly aware of her good fortune and often stated to her daughters, “We are so blessed.”
She never forgot her roots and always reached out to those in need both financially and emotionally. It
is fitting and proper that in death that reach continues. She believed in paying it forward, before there
was a movie of that name. Her daughters are just honoring the memory of their mother, who was
blessed, but industrious, with this scholarship to a Technical School or Community College for a
Bridgeport High School graduate who the Foundation deems worthy.
BIOGRAPHY OF DOUGLAS VAN SCOY
Mr. Van Scoy is a native of Harrison County and a 1961 graduate of Bridgeport
High School. He received BS and MS degrees from West Virginia University. After
completing his service in the U.S. Army, he started his investment career in
Baltimore, Md., in 1969 with Blyth Eastman Dillon. In 1974 he went to work with
the investment firm Smith Barney, remaining with them until his retirement in
2001.
Mr. Van Scoy has served as a board member and chairman of the West Virginia
University Alumni Association. He currently serves on the West Virginia
University Foundation Board of Directors. He and his wife, Pamela Smith Van
Scoy, have three married daughters, and reside in Charleston South Carolina.
BIOGRAPHY OF TOM MACE
Tom Mace was born in Anmoore in 1940 and graduated with the Class of 1958. He was a
member of the 1955 state champion football team. He began his career with the NASA Tour
Center in the mid-60s and became manager of tour operations. In 1973, he was named
operations manager for TWA for the Zion, Bryce and Grand Canyon National Parks,
eventually being named vice-president. In 1981, he moved to Forever Resorts, becoming
executive vice-president and also became executive vice-president of a health and beauty
products company. Mr. Mace also started his own company, Grand Canyon Management,
and has built hotels and restaurants in Arizona. He is now semi-retired but still builds
homes here in the Harrison County area, 15 to date. He is married to the former Mary Ann
McShane of Bridgeport. They have two children, four grandchildren and two greatgrandchildren.
ountaineer Connection