A surge of donations from members of the Uniondale High School Alumni Association in the days leading up to the district’s annual scholarship ceremony helped the organization double the number of scholarships it awarded this year from two to four.
The scholarships were presented at the high school’s ceremony on May 28, when more than 50 grduating senior received financial assistance from community organizations, alumni groups, memorial funds and local supporters as they prepared for college. More than 40 other scholarships were handed out as well.
The alumni association raised $4,300 for its 2026 scholarship fund, drawing support from roughly 40 donors, including members of the classes of 1988 through 2002, friends, family members and professional contacts of the scholarship coordinator and chair, Duane Shippey.
“In the last 36 hours, we raised another $2,000,” Shippey said at the ceremony. “Even when I was leaving the house, I got another $200 — I had to rip up the checks and write new checks. People just kept coming last minute.”
This year’s alumni scholarships were presented to Darren Brown, Christaline Fede, Aariana Osorio and Aaliyah Rose. Each received $1,075.
Now in its eighth year, the scholarship program requires applicants to maintain a grade point average of at least 79, participate in extracurricular activities and submit an essay about the importance of staying connected to their community.
“I am not a one-man show,” Shippey said. “It takes a village to actually go through this and come up with the selection process.”
Most important, he said, recipients must demonstrate a willingness to give back to Uniondale after they graduate, which inspires generations that follow to continue the tradition.
“It’s about community, it’s about legacy — people that genuinely care,” Shippey said. “People that genuinely want to be involved and help make a difference for some of these younger folks.
“I do this because I believe in the Uniondale community,” he added. “Giving some of these students a head start towards their future.”
Fifteen students applied for the scholarships this year. Four alumni volunteers reviewed the essays and selected the recipients, Shippey explained.
Brown, who plans to attend Marist University and to major in athletic training while minoring in journalism, said the award reinforced the sense of community he has experienced growing up in Uniondale.
“I feel that being a part of Uniondale is just like we’re all family — it’s an extended family in a way,” Brown said. “The scholarship, it just makes me happier. Me wanting to give back to my community is being recognized. It makes me want to keep going.”
Brown volunteers in the Genesis Program, mentoring young basketball players. The program, founded by 2009 Uniondale High graduate James Oakimey, promotes children’s mental and physical health through sports and fitness. Brown is also a member of My Brother’s Keeper. He said he hopes to return to Uniondale after college as a coach or mentor.
Brown also received a Garavente Scholar Athlete Award and a scholarship from Mr. Uniondale: in Memory of Xavier Parris. Parris, nicknamed Mr. Uniondale, was a member of the class of 2014 who died in a car crash in Hempstead in October 2022 when an intoxicated driver lost control of his vehicle. Parris was 26. Since then, the family has awarded a scholarship to honor his name.
Fede plans to attend Queens College and study elementary education. For the past two years she has worked in the Walnut Street School’s Project Excel after-school program, helping younger students with homework and activities.
Her essay highlighted the impact that a former teacher assistant named Faroldine Blake had on her when she was growing up. Fede found a mentor in Blake whose example helped solidify her decision to become a teacher.
“It felt really nice knowing that my writing skills didn’t go unnoticed and my effort got me something,” Fede said. She also received a second scholarship, a Eustace Thompson Memorial Award.
Rose plans to attend Molloy University, and study nursing. Having completed Uniondale’s certified nursing-assistant program, she said that family health challenges helped inspire her career path.
Rose plans to return to Uniondale to coach volleyball because, as a volleyball player herself, sports and extracurricular activities help students more than many people think, she said.
The college scholarship application process wasn’t easy for her, Rose said. She applied for a number of scholarships, which required writing a number of essays and spending significant time on applications. The scholarship, she said, will help offset the cost of attending Molloy. She also won a Hempstead/Uniondale Rotary Club Community Scholarship.
Osario will attend Columbia University and major in computer engineering with a minor in aerospace engineering. She also received a Joseph Sopp Award and one from the Uniondale Secretarial Association.
Next year, Shippey plans to add another component to the scholarship process: ensuring that the winners open their first checking or savings account when they deposit the scholarship check. And if the seniors already have one, Shippey said he would consider it a “check mark” for the scholarship application.
“It is important for these students to learn financial literacy at a young age,” he wrote in an email.
“I hope that I remember, when I graduate, all the adversity that came, and how I handled it,” Brown said.
