AFT Local 4277 at Thomas Edison State College has instituted a scholarship for graduate students, according to local President Charlene Martucci. The local is donating $1000 each year which is matched by the AFT Council for New Jersey State College Locals, for a total of $2,000. Scholarship applicants must be New Jersey residents and belong to a union.
“We decided to award a graduate student because financial aid is more abundant for undergraduate degrees. And since it is a union scholarship, we felt it was appropriate to require that the recipient be the member of a union. Teachers, nurses, police, fire fighters and so many other people seeking graduate-level degrees, are union members,” said Martucci.
AFT members Laura Brenner-Scotti and Jennifer Stark will be chairing the Scholarship Committee.
AFT members Kathy Griffis and Lauren Kirk chaired the annual Local 4277 holiday gift drive for children, and provided toys and clothing for more than 50 children through The Children’s Home Society. AFT member Tanisha McKinnis chaired the fall backpack drive, and Local 4277 members handed out over 170 backpacks with school supplies to school children in the College’s neighborhood in Trenton, according to Martucci.