2023 Isidore Wise Scholarship Recipients

And the winner is…

This spring, we received nearly 200 applications for five available Isidore Wise Scholarships, awarded annually by Connecticut Children’s. The Isidore Wise Scholarship Program was established by the bequest of Mr. Isidore Wise, a member of the Newington Children’s Hospital Board of Directors. His desire was for the money be used to provide scholarships for worthy students who had been patients of Newington Children’s Hospital, now Connecticut Children’s.

A rigorous screening process

Students worked diligently to submit their applications by the March 10 deadline. Applications included a completed questionnaire with 12 essay questions outlining their community service, extracurricular activities, awards or accomplishments, career aspirations, treatment received at Connecticut Children’s and hardships the family may have experienced. In addition, students were required to submit an academic transcript and a letter or recommendation. Each application was thoroughly reviewed and scored by members of the Isidore Wise Scholarship Reading Committee. The top 25 applications were then passed to the Isidore Wise Scholarship Selection Committee for their assessment. After completing a rigorous screening process, the Selection Committee chose 10 students to continue to the last phase of the selection process, an interview.

Through Zoom, the remarkable finalists each joined the Committee for a 30-minute individual interview. Once the interviews were complete, the Isidore Wise Selection Committee deliberated and selected five scholarship winners and one honorable mention. Choosing the winners, amongst a pool of highly impressive and accomplished young adults, was no easy feat!

Receiving the $10,000 Isidore Wise Scholarship

Those who earned a $10,000 college scholarship include: Emily R of Enfield who will be attending the University of Rhode Island; Olivia K of Litchfield who will be attending Brown University; Caitlyn M of Mansfield Center attending UCONN in the fall; Kellyann T of West Hartford who is off to Providence College; and Katherine S of Avon who will be pursuing her collegiate studies at Dartmouth. We were also honored to provide Emily S of Glastonbury a $1,000 Honorable Mention Award.

Accomplishments and Accolades

While some students are interested in pursuing the medical field, others are undeclared at the moment. Despite hardships and obstacles our finalists faced over the years, their commitment to academic excellence, extracurricular involvement and their dedication to community service prevailed. One of our students received the National Merit Commended Scholar Award, given to the top 2-4% of scorers on the PSAT across the country. One student immersed herself in Irish dancing to help cope with her mother’s cancer diagnosis and even started a local chapter of Cancer Kids First, a 501(c)(3) youth-led group helping pediatric cancer patients experience a better childhood. Another student, who lives with chronic pain, embraced her artistic side working in various art mediums and also found fostering sick animals as a way to shift her energy and focus towards helping others. One scholarship recipient works multiple jobs helping her family with finances while also volunteering at a food pantry assisting low-income families in her community. And another student, in honor of her friend who passed away, is working with her community to have it certified as a HEARTSafe Community, ensuring AED (Automated External Defibrillator) are cataloged and located through town. There were no AED nearby the night her friend collapsed.

These are just a few examples of the extraordinary high school seniors who applied for—and received—the 2023 Isidore Wise Scholarships. Mr. Wise’s legacy lives on in these bright young adults who are off to college in the fall.

A big congratulations to all of the 2023 graduates who received care at Connecticut Children’s and are making the most of their healthy futures. We know you will accomplish great things!