ANDOVER — As the end of the year nears, the seniors at Pymatuning Valley High School are facing a future beyond high school. For many seniors, this means continuing education beyond high school and realizing the enormous costs associated with that continuation. To defray those costs, many are working on scholarship applications. This year, there is a new scholarship available to the seniors at Pymatuning Valley, the Jeffrey B. Meddock Memorial Scholarship. Following the death of our beloved principal, Jeffrey Meddock, a committee met, including Meddock’s father, and established a scholarship in his name. The purpose of the scholarship is to memorialize Meddock’s enthusiasm and belief in Pymatuning Valley High School and every Pyma-tuning Valley student.

To honor their son’s mission, Meddock’s family wanted to make two scholarships. One of the two scholarships would be awarded to students pursuing a traditional college degree and another to students pursuing an associate degree or a certificate program. Additionally, they made the required grade point average a 2.0 for the associate degree and 2.7 gpa for the traditional college degree so that more students would be eligible to meet the criteria. In this way, the family feels that the scholarship will be open to a larger range of students and be more representative of Meddock’s belief in all of his students, something that his family believes Meddock would have wanted.

Pymatuning Valley Schools superintendent Jake Rose agrees. “Mr. Meddock was very persevering and would never give up on any kid,” he said.

All students who had been at school with Meddock, past and present, still feel the belief he had in them. The scholarship is a way for Meddock’s legacy to continue to help PV High School students in the future, just as Meddock himself had planned to do.

The scholarship application asks students to provide a list of activities, both in school and through the community; an essay; and two letters of recommendation, one to be from a community member. In choosing an essay topic, the committee wanted to pick something that would transcend through the years and would capture the spirit Meddock brought to the school. The essay topic is “How has my Laker Pride been demonstrated through community involvement, school involvement and perseverance?” The students recognized for the scholarship will demonstrate perseverance and community pride, Meddock’s passions. The award for each scholarship is $1,000.

There is no replacement for Jeff Meddock, and his absence continues to be felt every day. But his influence is also continuous as Pymatuning Valley continues to strive for a dynasty of excellence, the foundations of which were established under Meddock. Students just finished the Ohio Graduation Tests, attendance at school has been steady, and the PV Pride Bank has recorded record deposits in recent days; surely Meddock would be proud of the students’ perseverance.

The awarding of this scholarship to members of this senior class will be bittersweet; yes, financial burdens will be met with the very generous scholarship, and certainly it will be a tremendous honor to be awarded a scholarship in the name of a man who was loved and admired, but it will not erase just how much he is missed.

Perhaps, to honor him and his memory, as well as his sense of humor, instead of a handshake at the acceptance of the award, there should be some “Meddock-ism”: a “High Five for Education,” a “Pound for Pride” or a “Bump for Bucks” so that the moment of laughter helps us to remember how important it is to make sure that education, for all its importance and seriousness, is also fun.

The Pymatuning Valley Schools maintains the Jeffrey B. Meddock Scholarship Fund. The scholarship monies come from donations; the generosity of the family and friends of PV has been outstanding.

Anyone interested in supporting the scholarship can contact the administration office at (440) 293-6488.