Florida Tech and Palm Bay High Announce Scholarships for PIRATES Academy Graduates

MELBOURNE, FLA.–At a Palm Bay High School gathering on Oct. 26, Florida Tech President Anthony J. Catanese announced that Florida Tech will make available scholarships of $5,000 a year for up to four years to graduates of Palm Bay High School’s PIRATES Academy. This stands for Program for Independent Research, Advanced Technology, Engineering and Science.
“We will be challenging community businesses to match the generous contribution from Florida Tech. Ideally, the company will be one with whom the student has done his internship,” said John Thomas, Palm Bay High School principal and recently named Florida Principal of the Year.
The PIRATES Academy puts freshmen on an intensive science and mathematics track, making it a final link in the Brevard County Public School’s Science and Technology Choice Program feeder chain. This includes the West Melbourne School for Science and Stone Middle School Science and Technology Program. Currently, 30 freshmen are enrolled in the new PIRATES Academy.
“We are pleased to add another incentive to those students who strive to achieve in a challenging technology, engineering and science curriculum. They will be welcome additions to our freshman class in a few years’ time,” said Dr. Catanese.
Also attending the announcement ceremony in the high school’s media center was Superintendent of Brevard Public Schools Dr. Richard A. DiPatri. Joining President Catanese were Gary Hamme, Florida Tech vice provost for enrollment management; Linda DeRegnaucourt, director of PIRATES Academy; Jim Rishebarger, Palm Bay High School technical coordinator; the academy’s team teachers and students.
The PIRATES Academy attendance zone includes all of the areas now designated for Satellite High School, Eau Gallie High School, Melbourne High School and Bayside High School.
Florida Tech has been named as one of America’s best colleges by U.S. News & World Report for 17 consecutive years, a “Best Buy” by Barron’s Best Buys in College Education, and is ranked as a Best Southeastern College by The Princeton Review. For the second straight year, Washington Monthly magazine has named Florida Tech the top private university in Florida and Fiske Guide to Colleges designated Florida Tech one of 14 top technical institutions in the United States.
PHOTO: Florida Tech President Anthony J. Catanese poses with PIRATES Academy students, from left, Tyler LaPrade, Robert Lenoci and Peeraya Sawangkum.