McGovern Siblings Both Recipients Of Beneke Scholarship
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BETHLEHEM -- The McGovern family of Bethlehem these days is doubly grateful for the benevolence of former Wheeling Park High School Principal Phyllis Beneke.
Amanda McGovern -- a 2021 WPHS graduate -- was the first in her family to receive the school's prized Beneke Scholarship, which is providing her $5,000 a year for four years to pursue a college education at $20,000.
Her brother, Maxwell McGovern, recently graduated with the WPHS class of 2023. He was the recipient of a $6,000 annual scholarship for four years through the Beneke Foundation at $24,000.
Between them, the pair will receive $44,000 toward their higher education aspirations.
Amanda is a theater major at West Virginia University, and Maxwell plans to join her in Morgantown this fall as a music business major.
Their younger sister, Emma, is still a student at Our Lady of Peace School in Mozart - where their mother, Erin McGovern, works as office manager/secretary.
The money is especially beneficial to them as recent months have been particularly hard for the family. Their father, Matthew McGovern, was a Wheeling firefighter who passed away in early January.
Both the older McGovern siblings also have received Promise scholarships, and they are also applying for grants through the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation.
"It's pretty nice," Maxwell McGovern said of the Beneke Scholarship and other dollars received. "Obviously, it doesn't cover all the tuition, but it does make it so much more affordable to us. It is so much easier to go (to college), and it makes it easier on us."
Amanda McGovern added that as theater and music majors, they don't necessarily expect to make much money at the start to pay back student loans.
"Our careers aren't set up for us to necessarily make a lot of money," she explained. "To not be in a lot of debt from college is really helpful - especially in what we are pursuing.
Mom Erin McGovern agrees the scholarship dollars take a lot of pressure off the family, and that parents always are worried about how they will pay for college for their children.
"In both of their industries, sometimes you have to make a name for yourself before you can make money doing what you love," she said. "And they are not starting out in the red, and that's a good thing."
Erin McGovern also is glad her children won't be all that far away in Morgantown, but still able to be on their own and have some independence.
"I know they are excited to be out in the world," she explained. "But as a parent, it frightened me that they could be so far away from me that I couldn't get to them if I needed to. … I feel I can access them."
Erin McGovern added it was the staff at WPHS and the Beneke Scholarship committee who saw that her children were worthy of the funding, and she was thankful to them.
"I definitely feel blessed that not just one of my kids received the Beneke, but both," she said. "It was hard to believe. I feel like there were a lot of factors going into that too."
Erin McGovern said she has read about Phyllis Beneke and found her to be "an amazing person."
"Her enormous generosity is amazing to me," she continued. "I can only dream and hope that someday I can help a family like that in the way that she has helped mine.
"The fact that both of my kids will be on that list is an honor, in my opinion. They will make good use of that money. I know my kids would not waste that, or not be glad to have it. They will work and study hard."
Erin McGovern most credited the work and effort displayed by her children for getting them money for college, and that she especially appreciated the staff at WPHS for noticing that.
She said she and her late husband always told their children, "Do something that you love, that way it will never really be work."
"It really doesn't matter how much money you make, as long as you make enough to pay your bills," Erin McGovern said. "They are both following their dreams, and that's really all any parent wants for their kids - to have fun, be happy people and be productive community members.
"It's why I am grateful for Phyllis Beneke," she added.