The Frank Finocchiaro Memorial Scholarship Essay Contest judging took place on April 9, 2016. The judges reviewed 109 essays submitted by students from Bethesda Academy, Benedictine Military School and St. Vincent's Academy, which represented a 100% increase in the number of essays submitted versus last year.

Essays were written about a widely diverse range of people from Mother Cabrini to Anotnin Scalia as well as Geraldine Ferraro and Joe DiMaggio. The judges considered the depth of thought, the quality and presentation as well as the development of the ideas. Theme and exposition carried most weight but accuracy, command of vocabulary, sentence structure and spelling were also considered.

We are pleased to announce that the winners of The Italian Society of Savannah Frank Finocchiaro Memorial Scholarship Essay Contest for 2016 were: Bethesda Academy Chance Carroll - Amedeo Giannini; Benedictine Military School Brett Peloke - Enrico Fermi; Lawson Remler - Joseph Barbera
St. Vincent's Academy Haley Jeffers - Louis Zamperini; Meghan Vierheilig - Enrico Fermi

The Italian Society of Savannah, to cherish the memory of Frank Finocchiaro, a founding member and Benedictine alumnus, will present a $1,000 scholarship, applicable toward senior year tuition, to each of these students. The winners will receive the awards at their school award assemblies in mid-May.

We wish to thank the English teachers at all the schools who encouraged strong participation, which helped produce numerous, inspiring essays about the contributions of people of Italian descent to the United States of America.