Students Awarded Sound Beach Civic Association Scholarships

For the fourth year the Sound Beach Civic Association awarded two $1000 scholarships to deserving students from Sound Beach; Brendan O'Connell from and Samantha Picciotti from .

O’Connell will be attending Boston College, Carroll School of Management. He is a recipient of all six levels of the Congressional Award--Gold, silver and bronze.

The Woodward Children’s Center in Freeport, which serves developmentally disabled children, didn’t have a library or books for a long time. The Rocky Point PTA accumulated 1,500 books for all reading levels. Searching for an Eagle Scout project, Brendan built the shelves for the center.

“Because of him, now they have a place to store the books instead of in boxes,” said Mary Heeley, former president of the PTA.

Samantha Picciotti will be attending St. Joseph’s College. She has been on the honor roll from 2008 to 2012 and has been a member of the Math and Business Honor Societies.

In addition to her academic achievements, for the past several years she has worked on beach clean-ups, PTA book fairs, and pancake breakfasts. She has also sold plants for charities, collected books for ESL students, and worked with abused women in a local shelter.