John Franco of Tyrone Area High School, was one of 10 student-athletes from high schools in Central Pennsylvania honored with a $1,000 college scholarship by the Central Pennsylvania Chapter of the National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame.
Franco, a running back on the football team coached by his father, John Sr., received his award from Sam Phillips, president of Gardner’s Candies of Tyrone. Gardner’s is one of five groups that fully sponsor a chapter scholarship. The other five scholarships are funded by the chapter.
Franco and his fellow awardees were singled out from 35 senior football players honored for their athletics, academics and community service at the chapter’s 11th Annual Awards Banquet on March 30 at the Penn Stater Conference Hotel in State College. Scholarship winners are selected by a committee of five who review each nominee to determine the 10 winners based on three criteria: (1) Academics – 40%, (2) Football Ability/Performance/Attitude – 40%, and (3) Leadership/Citizenship – 20%. The scholarship money can be used by the student-athlete to help with their education at the college or university of their choice.
Since initiating the awards banquet in 1997-98, the Central Pennsylvania Chapter has given a total of $ 105,000 to deserving student-athletes from certain high schools located in the following area counties: Blair, Cambria, Centre, Clearfield, Clinton, Huntingdon, Jefferson, Juniata, Lycoming, and Mifflin.
A crowd of some 350 helped pay tribute to the 35 senior student-athletes. The featured speaker was John Greene, Executive Director of the Big 33 Football Foundation, which sponsors the nationally known PNC Big 33 Football Classic, one of the nation’s oldest high school all-star games. Green told the student-athletes that education should always come before sports, saying “Education is your plan and sport is a bonus.”
