Scholarship helps Hempfield Area, Yough seniors stay local for college

Angela Long hopes to become a teacher one day, perhaps at her alma mater.

The 18-year-old senior at Hempfield Area High School plans to study early childhood education at the University of Pittsburgh-Greensburg.

She’ll do so without tuition debt.

Long was one of two Westmoreland County high school students awarded scholarships to Pitt-Greensburg this week.

“It is an amazing school. It’s a great education in my backyard,” Long said.

Long said she has been inspired to become a teacher because of her honors Spanish teacher, Lori Jones, who pushed her students to do their best.

Without any prompting or a premonition, Long wore a Pitt T-shirt to school Tuesday morning, where she learned she had won the award. Pitt-Greensburg told scholarship finalists they would be notified of a decision in late April.

Long said she thought she might be the winner when she still was in class and could see her parents, Jeff and Lara Long, in front of the high school door. They had learned last week she was a winner but kept it a secret and did not tell her where they were going Tuesday as they planned to leave their Fort Allen home.

Yough High School senior Jack Weinhofer, 17, was awarded the other scholarship.

Weinhofer was surprised when he found out he won the award Wednesday and had no advance inkling his parents, Susan and Mark Weinhofer of Madison, were at the school.

“We did not tell anyone,” Mark Weinhofer said of keeping the secret they learned last week — especially family members, who might have spread the word in the small community, he remarked.

Weinhofer said he is interested in pursuing a career in information technology or math.

“It’s close to home, and I have heard they have a really good program in computer science,” he said.

“He’s a great student. It couldn’t have benefited a better person,” said Gina Hipps, Yough High School guidance counselor.

The scholarships will cover their first-year tuition at the Hempfield campus, an award worth $54,640 if they attend for four years, based on the tuition rate for the 2023-24 school year. The scholarship will renew annually for up to four years, as long as the students remain at Pitt-Greensburg and maintain at least a 3.5 GPA.

(Editor’s note: This story has been updated.)