(GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The Marianjoy Scholarship Program honored 24 Chicagoland students with physical disabilities at the program’s 22nd annual awards ceremony held June 9 at Marianjoy Rehabilitation Hospital.

In awarding $60,000 in scholarships, the Marianjoy Scholarship Program matched the highest amount of funding awarded in the program’s history. Since 1994, the program has committed over $870,000 to students who are selected from a large pool of applicants by an independent selection committee of community leaders.

“Each year, Marianjoy is proud to recognize these outstanding scholars, who represent perseverance, spirit and determination,” said Kathleen Yosko, Marianjoy president. “Thanks to our generous donor community, we are able to support this next generation of disability advocates as they pursue their career goals.”

The 2016 class of scholars, some of whom are current or former Marianjoy Rehabilitation Hospital patients, demonstrated academic excellence and community involvement. Marianjoy scholars, who must have permanent residence in the Chicagoland area, are attending colleges and universities across the country, including the University of Illinois, Yale University, St. Louis University, Montana State University, Olivet Nazarene University and Elmhurst College, among others.
Recipients this year include:

• Miles Allan of Elmhurst
• Abbey Burgess of Glen Ellyn
• Lauren Bryant of Carol Stream
• Joshua Carroll of Burbank
• Anthony Decker of Elgin
• Theresa Eberhardt of Yorkville
• Erin Feeney of Naperville
• Samantha Garcia of Montgomery
• Tadas Kunickas of Brookfield
• Ashley Lams of Brookfield
• Bernardo Luna of Melrose Park
• Amanda Marquez of Palatine
• Stella McMillan of Chicago
• Elizabeth Moran of Arlington Heights
• Jennalee Moran of Arlington Heights
• Noah Mussay of Lockport
• Tatiana Naborowski of Oak Brook
• Daniel Oster of Batavia
• Katherine Porter of Naperville
• Gianna Puccinelli of West Chicago
• Juleah Puccinelli of West Chicago
• Maria Senne of West Chicago
• Kyle Uminski of Plainfield
• Amanda Zurek of Antioch

More information about the Marianjoy Scholarship Program is available online at www.MarianjoyFoundation.org.

About Marianjoy Rehabilitation Hospital
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Marianjoy Rehabilitation Hospital, part of Northwestern Medicine, is a teaching hospital in Wheaton, Ill., with 100 acute inpatient rehabilitation beds and 27 Medicare-licensed sub-acute beds. Dedicated to the delivery of physical medicine and rehabilitation, Marianjoy offers specialty programs for adult and pediatric patients recovering from illness or who require intensive therapy to regain their function and independence. Marianjoy rehabilitation programs are: brain injury, spinal cord, orthopaedic, musculoskeletal, stroke and neuromuscular. Marianjoy also has inpatient and outpatient pediatric rehabilitation programs and one of the only Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF)-accredited pain management programs in Illinois.

Dr. Ronald Holmes is the author of 13 books: Jacob’s Dream! A Story of Bullying in School and Ways to Stop it. Jacob’s Dream! “A Lesson on Numbers and Birds,” “Jacob’s Dream! A Lesson on Alphabets and Continents,” “How to Eradicate Bullying,” “Education Questions to be Answered,” “Current Issues and Answers in Education,” “How to Eradicate Hazing,” “Professional Career Paths,” “Your Answers to Education Questions,” “How to revitalize the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc.” “Completing the Dissertation: Tips, techniques and real-life experiences from Ph.D. graduates.” “Jacob’s Dream, A Story of Careers for Children” and Jacob’s Dream, A Story of Animals in Africa. He is publisher of “The Holmes Education Post,” an education focused Internet newspaper.  Holmes is a former teacher, school administrator and district superintendent. He can be reached at [email protected]