By Hailey Le Roy
Alexandria DeAngelis, a Bloomingdale senior, was awarded the Florida State Philanthropic Educational Organization (PEO) scholarship, valued at $2,500, because of her impressive academic history and involvement in clubs.
What is the Florida State PEO scholarship? It was established in 1994 by the PEO Florida chapter to financially assist qualified women’s tuitions for undergraduate study at a Florida college or university.
To qualify, a student must have been sponsored by the PEO Sisterhood in a Florida chapter, been accepted into a Florida college or university for the first year to pursue getting an associate’s or bachelor’s degree and met “requirements of scholarship, character and financial need.”
According to the PEO International website, the organization was founded in 1869 at Iowa Wesleyan College in Mount Pleasant, IA in order to provide opportunities for women. PEO has given about $225 million to girls in the form of grants, scholarships and loans. It is dedicated to helping hardworking women reach their educational goals.
DeAngelis was awarded the scholarship through PEO HF, which is a chapter of PEO in the Valrico and Brandon area.
“We’re looking for a special girl, special women that are going to be our future leaders,” said PEO Chapter HF member Eileen Mueller.
She has known DeAngelis for five years and is the one who recommended her for the scholarship.
According to Mueller, DeAngelis “always went out of her way to go above and beyond.” She has helped Mueller out countless times through puppy sitting, house sitting and taking care of her husband’s orchids. She also worked part-time during school, was very active in Bloomingdale High School’s extracurricular activities and graduated with several honors cords.
Mueller is astounded with DeAngelis’ hard work and dedication inside and outside of school.
“I was just amazed. Here is this young lady who was always positive and she wasn’t afraid to go out and grab a hold of the golden ring.”
She was celebrated on June 1 with an open house including the entire PEO Chapter HF team.
This upcoming school year, DeAngelis will be going into pre-med at the University of South Florida. Congratulations to DeAngelis for this remarkable achievement.
For more information on PEO, visit www.peointernational.org or email Eileen Mueller at eileenmueller@gmail.com.
