Wallkill Valley graduate is scholarship recipient

FRANKLIN — Ryan Oleksy, a graduate of the Wallkill Valley Regional High School Class of 2017 and of Franklin Borough Elementary School Class of 2013, is the recent recipient of the $2,000 Mildred Harden Scholarship.
Oleksy completed his Wallkill Valley Regional High School career finishing eighth in his class of 171. His application included a recommendation letter that was written by his engineering teacher, Robert LoGiudice. Comments included statements like "Ryan is very conscientious, an enthusiastic student who enjoys the challenge of solving engineering-like problems. Ryan has proven to be one of the more gifted students that I have had, a leader amongst his peers and his motivation to succeed and knowledge will ensure his success in the future."
His student-written narrative was about his fifth-grade enrichment teacher, Steven Sandor. Sandor also ran the Lego Robotics Club and encouraged him how to incorporate his love for designing and building into a career.
The four activities Oleksy chose for his application included his volunteer hours and giving back to the community, his love for arts playing the bass clarinet since fourth grade, being involved in school musicals, singing in the advanced choir and playing in several different bands including Sussex County Honors and Teen Arts festival.
His scholarly achievements include being inducted into the National Honor Society, National English Honor Society and the World Language Honor Society. His athletic achievements include varsity letters in bowling, indoor track and spring track, receiving second New Jersey Team All-Conference award for outdoor track and field two years in a row and placing third for pole-vaulting in the New Jersey State Winter Track Sectionals this past year.
Oleksy was accepted into the five-year master’s program at Stevens Institute of Technology, where he will study mechanical engineering in the fall.
The Mildred Harden Scholarship started over 10 years ago and is still going strong. Mildred Harden was a teacher at Franklin School. She also served on the environmental commission and the town council. After her passing, she left everything she had to the children of Franklin.
Her memory lives on through her yearly scholarship that one student who graduated from the Franklin Borough Elementary School and a high school graduate can apply for.