Our goal is to award academic scholarships each and every year in perpetuity to four (4) deserving seniors selected by the NHS South Scholarship Committee using the criteria that we (the Class of NHS-1963 Alumni/Reunion Committee) have defined for each scholarship. Currently, we award two (2) "NHS Class of 1963 Scholarships", one "Richard Cabral Memorial Scholarship" and one "Peter Stylianos Honorary STEM Scholarship" each year. We have entrusted the evaluation of student applicants for our four  scholarships and the selection of scholarship winners to the NHS South Scholarship Committee, a voluntary team of teachers and guidance staff led by NHS South faculty member Judy Loftus and assisted by Debra Blannin. Each year in early June, all scholarships (ours and many others) are presented to the students at the annual Scholarship Awards Night ceremony at NHS South. Representatives from the NHS Class of 1963 attend this event to present our four scholarships, mee the students and take picures for our web site and Facebook page. 

The background including scholarship evaluation criteria for each of our scholarships is as follows: 

THE NHS CLASS OF 1963 SCHOLARSHIP
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Our original intent was to issue two (2) "NHS Class of 1963 Scholarships" annually. We know that college expenses, especially during the first year in college, can be daunting. Our hope is that these scholarships will help ease the journey towards achieving the academic goals and career objectives of the student recipient. 

The NHS Class of 1963 Scholarships shall be awarded to students with a demonstrated financial need who have been accepted at an accredited 2 or 4 year college or university (not an on-line college). Applicants must have maintained a 2.5 GPA or higher while attending NHS South. Preference will be given to applicants coming from social and/or academically challenged backgrounds, and who have been involved in extracurricular activities and/or provided community service while at NHS South; and who may not easily qualify for other awards. Applicants must submit a short, 1 page paper describing their planned course of study at college, and their long-term career goals following graduation from college.

​As you can see, our selection criteria de-emphasizes (but does not ignore) academic achievement. Instead, we stress the importance of overcoming social and/or family challenges; and we also emphasize the importance of extracurricular involvement and community service while students at NHS South
THE RICHARD CABRAL MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP

In 2018, following the unexpected passing of classmate Dick Cabral and in recognition of the many contributions that Dick made to the Class of 1963 over the years, we added a new, 3rd annual scholarship --- the Richard Cabral Memorial Scholarship. This scholarship honors the generosity and support of our friend and fellow classmate, Dick Cabral and his wife Wendy Cabral. When introducing this new scholarship at the 2018 Scholarship Awards Event at NHS South, Steve Doris said the following as an introductuion to this new scholarship:
"Dick Cabral was one of my very close friends growing up in the Nashua school system. Dick and I were on the same Little League team (as was Tom Osgood by the way). Dick and I were also teammates on the St Patrick’s CYO basketball team, and we were also teammates on the NHS State championship baseball team in 1962 (and again in 1963) playing for Buzz Harvey. Near the end of my sophomore year, Dick also played matchmaker and fixed me up with a pretty young lady named Noreen who has been my one and only wife for nearly 53 years.

Dick grew up on the poor side in Nashua during the 50’s and 60’s. The Cabrals were a wonderful family (I knew them all) but the ”income to expense ratio” wasn’t so favorable, and they were forced (or maybe chose) to move from apartment to apartment often, sometimes several times in a year. I believe by the time Dick graduated from NHS in 1963, he had actually lived in 8 of Nashua’s 9 wards – and that must be a City of Nashua municipal record.

While Dick came from an impoverished background, he was always incredibly upbeat, extremely social, very intelligent, highly motivated to succeed and vowed never to be poor himself. He married early, became a parent early, put himself through night school while working a full-time job at Hampshire Chemical, and then earned an accounting degree from Merrimack college. Next, he bought his first apartment house. And then his 2nd, and then another, and another and many, many  more. To make a long story short, Dick parlayed his early success as a landlord in Nashua to become a hugely successful real estate developer nationwide….. with holdings in Nashua, up and down the East Coast, and later in the greater Phoenix AZ area and also in FL.
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Dick loved his high school days, and the friends he grew up with in Nashua. Dick provided financial support for all of our class reunions --- his blood ran purple. In more  recent years, he was instrumental, both conceptually and financially in the establishment our class’s  “giving back to NHS” program, most notably our Scholarship Endowment Fund.  It is therefore most fitting that the NHS Class of 1963 honor Dick Cabral and his memory with a scholarship in his name, and which shall be awarded to a graduating senior who exemplifies the spirt of Dick Cabral --- an applicant viewed by the faculty at NHS South as an  "overachiever" during high school; a  student who has overcome obstacles in order achieve his or her  special level of academic accomplishment, a student who demonstrates a positive, highly motivated, "can do" attitude, and who has achieved success in spite of challenges out of their direct control. ​
The Richard Cabral Memorial Scholarship shall be awarded to a student who has a demonstrated financial need and who has been accepted at an accredited 2 or 4 year college or university (not an on-line college). The student must have achieved a 3.0 GPA or higher while attending NHS South. Preference will be given to applicants who are viewed by the NHS faculty as "overachievers" during high school; i.e. students who have overcome challenges and obstacles in order achieve their special level of academic accomplishment, a student who demonstrates a positive, highly motivated, "can do" attitude, and who has achieved success in spite of challenges out of their direct control. Students need not apply for this scholarship, rather the NHS South Scholarship Awards Committee shall evaluate candidates and choose the candidate who best meets the above qualifications. 
THE PETER STYLIANOS HONORARY SCHOLARSHIP

In 2024, the NHS-1963 Alumni/Reunon Committee introduced an additional (4th) annual scholarship sponsored by the NHS Class of 1963 to honor and thank our classmate, Peter Stylianos, for his remarkable financial  support to our Nashua High School Class of 1963 Scholarship Endowment Fund.
 
Starting in 2024, the Peter Stylianos Honorary STEM Scholarship shall be awarded annually to a graduating senior from Nashua High School South, and presented in addition to the two NHS Class of 1963 Scholarships (awarded annually since 2013); and the Richard Cabral Memorial Scholarship (awarded annually since 2018). The Peter Stylianos Honorary STEM Scholarship shall be presented to a graduating senior who has exhibited a strong interest and academic achievement; and who plans to pursue a career in a STEM-related  field (Science, Technology, Engineering and/or Math). In making his recent million dollar donation to our NHS-1963 Scholarship Endowment Fund, Peter said:
 
"Education is the most powerful tool, a key that opens doors to a life of opportunity and possibilities. I am grateful and fortunate to be associated as a contributing member within such academic endeavors. It therefore gives me immense joy, and from an efficacious position, to provide financial  support and encouragement via STEM scholarships to talented and deserving innovators. These forthcoming leaders, passionate and dedicated to achieving career goals, will soon enough become essential in the advancement of society society as a whole. I offer my heartfelt congratulations to all future scholarship recipients, and I modestly wish to thank them for granting me an integral avenue within their journey.”
SCHOLARSHIP AWARD WINNERS BY YEAR

To view details about each of our scholarship award winners since 2013, just click on the year below. 



SCHOLARSHIP FACTS AND FIGURES

The table belows contains a summary of all scholarship winners and scholarship amount by year and college chosen.
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PLEASE DON'T LOSE SIGHT OF OUR VISION 

Thanks to the NHS-1963 Scholarship Endowment Fund with the support of ongoing classmate donations, our goal remains to contuinue yo award scholarships to four well qualified, deserving seniors from NHS South each and every year in perpetuity; that is forever and ever...... amen.  

​No NHS Class has ever done this before.