Scholarship Winner

Jennifer Shelley is pictured with Masons Ron Caskey and Denny Williams and her parents Amy and Joe Shelley following presentation of the annual Liberty Lodge #505 Scholarship.  Miss Shelley is the 20th recipient of this award.

Jennifer Shelley, PAHS Class of 2013, was presented with the annual Liberty Lodge #505 Scholarship during a ceremony held last week.  In accepting the award, she thanked the Liberty Lodge and told them a little bit about herself.

During her high school years, she was involved in many clubs and athletics while keeping high honor roll and maintaining second in the class.  She was involved in computer club, where they edit the school website, for five years.  She was also involved in French Club for four years and was vice president.  She was a Peer Helper for three years and secretary for one year. Peer Heping is a group of upperclassmen that help the seventh graders with  their transition into the high school as well as doing many other things in the school and community.   Jenny is a two-year member of the National Honor Society.

She is a four-year member of the softball team, being a captain for two years.  She told the group that volleyball was her favorite sport and she started playing volleyball on a club team in Olean NY called Cobra when she was in sixth grade.  She continued playing club volleyball all the way through to her senior year.  Club volleyball's season ran from November until April.  It consisted of practicing multiple times a week and attending tournaments to compete against other club teams.  By the time she was a freshman, she started on the varsity team.  During her freshman year of volleyball, she was named to the North Tier League Honorable Mention team.  Her sophomore year she was named to NTL first team and chosen to be on the District 9 second team all stars.  She also accomplished her goal of getting one thousand career assists.  Throughout her senior year, she had many accomplishments.  She was named for the third year in a row to the NTL First Team all stars and again was named to the District 9 second team all stars and also named Most Valuable Player of the league.  She was presented the Coach's Award at the end of the season.  All four years of her volleyball career she received the serving and setting award given by Coach Sharon Daniels.  She also broke records for volleyball during her senior year with a career high of sixteen hundred assists and she holds the record for assists in one season with 603.  During both her junior and senior seasons, the Lady Gator Volleyball team went undefeated in the league and won the NTL crown.  Her junior year, they attended the final four of districts and finished fourth.  Her senior year they again attended the final four of districts and finished second, attended state playoffs and were in the Elite 16 of the state.

Jenny maintained honor roll in the college prep program and took honors classes her sophomore through senior years.  She finished with an average GPA of 3.8 and ranked second in her class of 76.

Jenny will attend Thiel College this fall, double majoring in Early Childhood Education and Special Education while continuing to play volleyball.  Her future goals are to become an elementary school teacher, continue taking classes to earn her master's degree and become a principal.  Pam Fischer Photo