The Pop Warner 57th Annual Scholar Banquet was filled with wonderful, inspiring speeches by NFL football players Brandon Brooks and Nate Solder, Olympic silver medalist for women’s hockey, Lyndsey Fry, and Mike and Chris Golic from Mike and Mike on ESPN.  The San Francisco 49ers were honored as the NFL team of the Year.  A common theme in our presenters' speeches was how honored they felt to be presenting at the Pop Warner Scholar Banquet and how proud they were of the achievements of our scholar athletes.  Each of our presenters noted in different ways and with varying examples that you cannot be an athlete without being a student. School comes first!

      Mid-America was very proud of all our scholars and this year we boasted several top scholars.  Below is a list of our top scholars and their scholarship awards:

• 5^th grade Ryan Starck  from Rockford Titans $500.00 from Nova Vista

• 6^th grade Carson Cormican from Tri Town Raiders $500.00 from Wilson, Elser, Mskowitz, Edelman and Dicker LLP

• 6^th grade Brooklin Busby from Tri Town Raiderettes  $500.00 from Marsh Insurance

• 7^th grade Mason Cormican from Tri Town Raiders $500.00 from Vault Media

     A special point to keep in mind: for each grade level above, Pop Warner only awards one scholarship for the top boy scholar and one for the top girl scholar.  Mid-America took 4 out of the 8 awards for these grades levels.  Patti Kirkwood, Mid-America Pop Warner Scholastics Director, is very impressed with all the hard work the kids have put in this year on and off the field.

 

The following are our senior scholars and the scholarships they received:

• Eileen Fagiano from Aurora Gators $1000.00 from Jamz

• Emily Seibert from Algonquin Argonauts $1000.00 from Marsh Insurance

• Victoria Spagnola from Aurora Gators $1000.00 from Pop Warner Regional Directors

• Zane Rayson from Northlake $1000.00 from Disney Sports

• Aidan Szuch from Aurora Gators $1000.00 from Dicks Sporting Goods

Mark your calendars:

Next year’s National Banquet will be held in Florida on Memorial Day weekend

Next year’s Mid America Banquet will be April 28, 2018 at the Renaissance Marriott in Schaumburg, Il

Remember someone is watching you!