ERIE — The Manufacturer & Business Association (MBA) announced the winners of the 2023 Patrick R. Locco Scholarship Awards, during the 10th annual Manufacturing Day (MFG Day) celebration on Wednesday, October 11, at the Bayfront Convention Center, 1 Sassafras Pier.
2023 Locco Award winners are: Carter Linden of the Corry Area Career & Technical Center; Madyson Banik of the Crawford County Career & Technical Center; Elijah Hardner of Erie High School; Calvin Smith of the Erie County Technical School; and, Michael Kovach of the Mercer County Career Center.
Additional nominees include: Evan Hajec, Jordon Huffman, Jonathan Griffis and Maximus Sell of the Corry Area Career & Technical Center; Dorian Doubet, Jacob Graham, Jacob LeSuer and Parker Schmidt of the Crawford County Career & Technical Center; Azath Siwakoti and Leelynn Toth of Erie High School; Thomas Baumann, Isaac Glover, Connor Bille and Kayla Klimek of the Erie County Technical School; and, Peter Plummer and Savannah Thurber of the Mercer County Career Center.
“We are proud to recognize the phenomenal achievements of these students,” said Lori Joint, president and chief executive officer of the MBA. “They are among the best and brightest students in technical education in our region, and we are proud to support them on their educational journey.”
The Locco Awards, which are named in honor of the late Association Vice President Patrick R. Locco, a strong advocate of vocational education, were created in 1972 (then known as the Golden Watch Awards) with the sole purpose to recognize outstanding high school students who distinguish themselves in the pursuit of technical and academic excellence. To be considered for this prestigious honor, students must apply and be nominated by a teacher. Each school then narrows the nominees to their top candidates. Students are then interviewed by local businesspeople who ultimately choose the winners.
This year, the student winners each received a $1,000 scholarship.
MFG Day is presented by the MBA, along with partners — the Northwest Pennsylvania National Tooling and Machining Association, Career Street, Harbor Creek School District, and Crawford County K-12 Career Education Alliance — and major sponsor AirBorn, along with dozens of other sponsor companies.
Calvin Smith, Michael Kovach, Madyson Banik, Elijah Hardner and Carter Linden.
From left are the 2023 Patrick R. Locco Award winners:
Calvin Smith from the Erie County Technical School; Michael Kovach of the Mercer County Career Center; Madyson Banik of the Crawford County Area Vocational-Technical School; Elijah Hardner of Erie High School; and, Carter Linden of Corry Area High School.
Contact: Tammy Polanski 814/833-3200, 800/815-2550 or tpolanski@mbausa.org
To learn more about the MBA, visit mbausa.org.
