DANBURY, CONN. — Western Connecticut State University education sophomore Samantha Verboven can’t wait to follow in the footsteps of the teachers in her family. Nontraditional student Roger Byrne hopes his studies in the Ancell School of Business will open up new career opportunities in the field of finance.

Verboven and Byrne are taking very different academic roads at WestConn, but their paths have converged in a special way. Both are among the 44 students who have benefited from Caraluzzi Scholarships since the program made its first grant awards in 2001.

Anthony Caraluzzi, owner of Caraluzzi’s Food Markets in Bethel and Georgetown, launched the scholarship program to commemorate the 50th anniversary of his father’s founding of the Bethel market. Reflecting the Caraluzzi family’s commitment to community service and its dedication to business education, the program recognizes two distinct types of WestConn students: incoming freshmen who are graduates of Bethel High School or Immaculate High School in Danbury, and undergraduates entering their junior or senior year in the Ancell School of Business

For the past eight years, members of the university and Greater Danbury communities have come together to support the Caraluzzi Scholarship Endowment at the Holiday Wine Tasting held each November on WestConn’s Midtown campus. Through proceeds from the annual wine tastings and major donations from the Caraluzzi family, the endowment has funded 44 scholarship grants totaling $38,600 since 2001. The Ninth Annual Holiday Wine Tasting will be held on Sunday, Nov. 4, in the new Westside Campus Center, featuring a global selection of fine vintages.

Verboven and sophomore Amanda Bolz, both 2005 graduates of Bethel High School, and Byrne, a New Fairfield resident, were among four incoming freshmen and five Ancell School of Business students who received $1,000 grants for the 2005-06 year. Byrne also was among seven Ancell students and six Bethel and Immaculate high school graduates named as Caraluzzi Scholarship recipients for the current academic year.

“I live in Bethel, and I’m very aware of the generosity and involvement of the Caraluzzi family in the community,” Bolz observed. “The Caraluzzi Scholarship has helped with the financial burden of attending WestConn.”

Bolz and Verboven both are pursuing education majors, with Bolz seeking a degree in secondary education with a concentration in social studies while Verboven is preparing for a career in elementary education. Verboven has drawn inspiration from several professional teachers in her own family, as well as WestConn education graduates who taught her at the elementary, middle and high school levels.

“My career goal is to become a third-grade teacher,” she said. “I think being at WestConn will prepare me for life as a good teacher. I’ve had some great teachers who have come out of WestConn, and I hope to be someone’s great teacher one day.”

Bolz has combined her education studies with participation in the sport of field hockey, initially as a player and currently as a coach at her alma mater, Bethel High School.

“My career goals are to become a high school teacher and to continue to coach for years to come,” Bolz said. “WestConn has a very strong department of education, and I expect to be well prepared to pursue my goals.”  

 

Byrne was unfamiliar with the Caraluzzi family’s involvement with the community and the university before he was named to receive grants for the previous and current academic years. But his profile as a finance major who works part-time to support his family and pay for his studies at WestConn exemplifies the Caraluzzi Scholarship program’s emphasis on fostering the university’s role in training skilled workers for the area business community. He balances his classroom work and participation this semester in a Co-Op program with the project management firm Atlantic Information Systems with his busy life as the father of two sons ages 8 and 10, an undergraduate tutor at WestConn and a volunteer coach in community sports.

“As a nontraditional student, the Caraluzzi Scholarship has been a great help,” he added. “Since I am working part-time while I go to school and raise two sons, money is tight. The scholarship has allowed me to focus more on my schoolwork than I would otherwise have been able to do.”

The scholarship recipients have discovered motivating classes and mentors at WestConn to guide them in their academic and personal development. Bolz credited her field hockey coach Dani McDonnell for providing the encouragement to take the plunge herself into high school sports coaching. Verboven noted her education and psychology classes have prepared her well for a teaching career, and she is eager to start the professional-semester phase of her degree program this fall to gain field experience in an elementary school classroom.

“I am excited to join the teachers in my family in their experience,” she said. “When I enter my professional semester, I’ll be that much closer to being a teacher.”

For more information about opportunities to support the Caraluzzi Scholarship Endowment and other scholarship programs for WestConn students, call the Office of Institutional Advancement at (203) 837-8298.