Pittsburgh Penguins Foundation Awards Scholarships to 10 Local High School Graduates

scholarhip winners
By Pittsburgh Penguins

The Pittsburgh Penguins and the Pittsburgh Penguins Foundation (PPF) have selected 10 high school graduates to honor with 2026 Penguins Foundation Scholarships.  The program includes all Pittsburgh Public Schools and Allegheny County.

This year, PPF supported three different scholarship programs, awarding $54,000 to 19 Pittsburgh-area students.  This includes 12 first-year awards plus seven of the PPF 2025 Scholarship second-year awards.

In partnership with UPMC, the Penguins Foundation has awarded its education/community-based scholarships since 2014.  Over the past 12 years, the Penguins Foundation has awarded a total of 188 first-year PPF scholarships.

To be eligible, students must attend a Pittsburgh Public School or an Allegheny County high school that provides substantial aid to students for reduced-cost or free lunch programs per the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), which is administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education - Division of Food and Nutrition. 

Each PPF scholarship is valued at $3,000 for the student’s first year of college, and an additional $2,000 is awarded for the student’s second year of college if a 3.0 GPA is maintained and a minimum of 24 credit hours are earned.

Penguins Foundation scholarship recipients for the 2025-2026 school year are as follows:

 

PPF Scholarship - Student

High School

University

1

Aderholt, Viola H.

Obama

Virginia Commonwealth University

2

Arafah, Alaa

Brashear

University of Pittsburgh

3

Aten, Nia S.

Brentwood

University of Pittsburgh

4

Benedict, Cecily Rose

Allegheny Valley

Indiana University of PA

5

Byrnes, Julianna

City Charter

Duquesne University

6

Caltagarone, Ariana J.

Allegheny Valley

Penn State University

(Schreyer Honors College)

7

Droschak, Alexandra

West Mifflin

Penn State University

8

Marthin, Yanneri Zapata

Brashear

Chatham University

9

Myers, Lucy

CAPA

Carleton College

10

Smith, Sydney

Penn Hills

Penn State Behrend

The Penguins organization also supports two scholarship programs focusing on athletics and hockey – the Penguins/Bob Johnson Memorial Scholarship and the Penguins Alumni Scholarship.  Both are joint efforts with the Penguins Booster Club and the team’s Alumni Association respectively.  Both scholarships are valued at $5,000.

 

Johnson Memorial Scholarship - Student

High School

University

1

Beaver Area High School

University of Pittsburgh

 

Penguins Alumni Scholarship - Student

High School

University

1

Mercer Area High School

Slippery Rock University

The Penguins and the Penguins Foundation put an emphasis on supporting local youth; and they value education as one of the Foundation’s four pillars.

The Penguins organization congratulates all of the awardees on their achievements to date; and wishes them continued success as they embark upon their college careers.

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