HISTORY

In 1987, James D. Boines and Ethel M. Boines bequeathed the Parish of Holy Trinity a generous donation for the “establishment of scholarship….”. To honor their generous intention, the Parish Council appointed a committee in 2015 to devise a path forward for disbursing scholarship awards to worthy applicants. After much consideration, the committee devised and recommended a unique scholarship program that encouraged youth participation in Church activities as the primary basis for awarding monies to qualified recipients. This effectively served two purposes: 1) fostering greater youth participation with the enticement of significant scholarship opportunities and 2) removing subjective criteria for the Parish to award scholarship monies to qualified candidates. In furtherance of easing the administration of the proposed scholarship program, this proposed formula also eliminated the need for an application process as all active high school aged youth are simply judged on their respective participation. Once an applicant has enrolled in Sunday School and elects to participate in other available youth activities, he/she is qualified for consideration for a Scholarship.

The primary college scholarship for graduating high school seniors can be as high as $5,000.00 with additional monetary awards for participation in the St. John the Theologian Oratorical Festival. The college scholarship is measured cumulatively. Fulfilling the participation criteria as a high school underclassman permits a student to “bank” up to $1,000 in each underclassman year ($1,000 each in freshman, sophomore, and junior years) while seniors can qualify for up to $2,000 for fulfilling criteria in the last year of high school. The full amount, up to $5,000, is disbursed from the Fund to the college of choice in the award recipient’s freshman year in college. Additional scholarships are available for parishioners attending Hellenic College and/or the Theological School in Brookline, MA.

Specifically, the James D. and Ethel M. Boines Scholarship Program is one of the largest parish-based scholarship awards programs in the Metropolis of New Jersey and provides monetary awards for:

  • High School students of Holy Trinity Parish who can be awarded up to $5,000.00 for satisfying youth participation criteria for programs such as Sunday School (80% attendance), GOYA, Choir, Altar Service, Philoptochos Internship Program;
  • St. John Oratorical Festival participation awards for high school seniors of Holy Trinity Parish who participate in the parish competition ($250), regional ($500), Metropolis ($750) and National ($1,000);
  • One-time first year scholarships for children of Holy Trinity Parish who enter Hellenic College/Holy Cross
  • Sons of parishioners who enter Hellenic College/Holy Cross for the avowed purpose of preparing for and entering the priesthood may be entitled to eight-year scholarship assistance.

Award Recipients

Boines High School Scholarship

  • 2024 Eleni Marcantonis
    Christina Pennia
    Anastasia Thomas
    Ludovic Wychieki
  • 2023* Christina Pennia
    Anastasia Thomas
    Ludovic Wychieki
  • 2022 Anatasia Rigas
  • 2021 Stavroula Karakasidis
    Alexandra Mavridis
    Sophia Pennia
  • 2020 Katherine Mantzavinos

*In 2023, Boines College Scholarships for High School Graduates began rewarding underclassmen Boines scholarship funds, in effect, applying the same qualification guidelines for each year of high school rewarding participation at each high school grade level and thereby spreading out the same total award over a 4-year period that had initially only been applicable to high school seniors.

St. John the Theologian Oratorical Festival

  • 2022 Anastasia Rigas
  • 2021 Stavroula Karakasidis
    Alexandra Mavridis
    Sophia Pennia
  • 2020 Katherine Mantzavinos

James D. and Ethel M. Boines Scholarship Fund Endowment

Types of Scholarships

The James D. and Ethel M. Boines Scholarship Fund Endowment (“Boines Fund”) consists of three (3) categories of scholarships (“Award”) to be distributed from the Boines Fund and identified as follows:

(1) Boines College Scholarships,

(2) Boines St. John Chrysostom Oratorical Festival College Scholarships, and

(3) Boines Hellenic College/Holy Cross Scholarships.

These scholarships shall be awarded for the first year of college education, except as otherwise stated

Who Is Entitled

A. Boines College Scholarships

  1. As set forth in detail below, any high school student qualifies for the Boines College Scholarship to be awarded in his/her senior year and any high school senior qualifies for the Boines Hellenic College/Holy Cross Scholarship if he/she has fulfilled the following requirements (“Criteria”) during the past school/Ecclesiastical year concluding with the Award:
    • (a) Eighty percent (80%) Sunday School attendance;
    • (b) participation in two of the following:
      • (i) St. John Chrysostom Oratorical Festival, or
      • (ii) Church Choir or Liturgical Choir Competition at Sights & Sounds or
      • (iii) altar service (boys) or Philoptochos Internship Program (girls) and
    • (c) sufficient active participation in GOYA as determined by a point award system as published by the GOYA by October 15th of the Ecclesiastical Year of the Award OR, in the absence of such point system, as determined by Father in consultation with Goya advisors, instructors, coaches, etc., as Father may deem appropriate.
  2. Attendance in Sunday School is defined as follows:
    • (a) Eighty-percent (80%) attendance for Sunday School throughout the Church year;
    • (b) An absence shall be excused if the student presents a note from a parent that the student was ill, or if the student presents a note from another Orthodox Sunday School teacher that the student attended Sunday School in another Orthodox Church;
    • (c) Singing in the Church Choir and/or service as an altar boy during the Divine Liturgy is also an excused absence if the student arrives in choir or the altar service at the beginning of the Divine Liturgy.
  3. Boines College Scholarship awards will be available only to the children of parishioners who have been stewards of the Holy Trinity Parish for three years prior to qualification for any Award under this Endowment, except that this three-year requirement shall not apply for the award of St. John Oratorical Festival Scholarship.

B. St. John Chrysostom Oratorical Festival Scholarship

Graduating (senior) high school students who have participated in the St. John Oratorical Festival are also entitled to awards as set forth in Section III, below.

C. Boines Hellenic College/Holy Cross Scholarships

Scholarship awards may be made available for the children of Holy Trinity parishioners who matriculate at Hellenic College/Holy Cross.

Amount of Scholarship Awards

    1. An amount equal to approximately 2.5% of the fund (determined as of April 30 each year) will be made available for scholarships on an annual basis.
    2. Boines College Scholarship Awards shall only be made in the recipient’s senior year and shall reflect the cumulative total award available to the recipient for the years of qualification under the Criteria.
    3. No Boines College Scholarship Award for any single recipient shall exceed a total of Five Thousand Dollars $5,000.00. In the event an Underclassmen (high school freshman, sophomore or junior) fulfills the Criteria in any given year, that individual shall be eligible for no more than $1,000.00 for any year of successful qualification and the Award shall be credited until such time as the recipient graduates from high school. The maximum Award available for a high school senior for fulfilling the Criteria in his/her senior year shall not exceed $2,000.00. The scholarship amounts may otherwise vary from year to year, depending on the number of eligible students and at any time the Boines Scholarship Committee (see IV below) may request additional funds from the Parish Council to be distributed from the James D. and Ethel M. Boines Scholarship Fund Endowment if the Parish Council determines that the 2.5% distribution is not enough to accommodate eligible students.
    4. Graduating (senior) high school students who have participated in the St. John Chrysostom Oratorical Festival are also entitled to the following additional scholarships awards, provided they have met the Criteria contained in Section II(A) and these awards shall be as follows:
      • $250.00 for any graduating senior who participates only at the local level;
      • a total award of $500.00 if the participant advances to the regional level;
      • a total award of $750.00 if the participant advances to the Metropolis level; and
      • a total award of $1,000.00 if the participant advances to the national level.
    5. Scholarship awards may be made available for the children of Holy Trinity parishioners who matriculate at Hellenic College/Holy Cross on the following basis. A first-year student entering Hellenic College will be entitled to a scholarship amount double the maximum amount otherwise available to first year students entering other colleges under this Endowment. This Scholarship shall only be available for the student’s first year attending Hellenic College. The son of parishioners who enter Holy Cross for the avowed purpose of preparing for and entering the priesthood will be entitled to a scholarship for tuition for the full eight-year Hellenic College/Holy Cross program (assuming funds are available) leading to the priesthood, provided that prior to the award of any such scholarship such student agrees to request ordination within three years following his graduation from the seminary. The intent of such an award to a student who enters Hellenic College/Holy Cross leading to the priesthood is to supplement, and not replace, other scholarship programs available at the Hellenic College/Holy Cross such as the Leadership 100 scholarship program. It is required that the student apply for all other scholarship grants available before an award is made hereunder. Moreover, in the event an individual elects to pursue a Hellenic College education but is not child of a parishioner, such individual may still qualify for such an Award if the individual fulfills the other criteria in this Section, has been a Steward of the Holy Trinity Parish in Wilmington, Delaware for at least two years, and has the recommendation of the presiding Priest of Holy Trinity and the Boines Committee.

     

Boines Scholarship Committee

The James D. and Ethel M. Boines Scholarship Committee will be elected by the parishioners during a duly convened spring General Assembly to administer this program. The parish priest and the President of the Parish Council will serve as ex officio members of the Boines Scholarship Committee.

Amendment

These rules may be amended, subject to a majority vote by a duly convened General Assembly of the Parish.