The winners of this year’s “Ted Swietlik Heart of a Dragon Scholarship” are Emily Schueren and Kristin Penrose.
The scholarship was established by the Television Production Workshop alumni in memory of Ted Swietlik two years ago. The winner last year was Melina Spencer.
Ted Swietlik, a 2014 graduate of Lake Orion High School, was a 2-year member of Television Production Workshop (TPW) and participated in many of the broadcasting classes.
He spent a lot of his time in the TPW studio and classroom as he pursued his dream of being a sports broadcaster.
Ted had a congenital heart defect and is the first-ever TPW alumni to pass away in their 30-year history. Thus, the TPW Ted Swietlik “Heart of a Dragon” Scholarship was born.
“Ted had a passion for life and a heart of gold. He was proud to be a Lake Orion Dragon and a member of the TPW family. In spite of the limitations caused by his heart problems, Ted contributed hundreds of service hours to the community. It was very important to Ted to help others in need,” said Kristen Swietlik.
This scholarship is given to one current TPW student each year who exhibits similar ambitions and values as Ted.
This year’s applicants all had the same wonderful qualities that Ted had and it was very hard to decide on a winner of this scholarship.
Ultimately it was decided that we could not just pick one recipient. With many great applicants for this scholarship, we decided to award two scholarships this year.
The winners are chosen by the Swietlik family. The recipients this year were chosen because they most closely matched the spirit and qualities that Ted embodied.
Emily said herself that to have a Heart of a Dragon, “You must be involved in the community and be driven and have determination.”
Emily has volunteered with a variety of projects in the community. She also has firsthand knowledge of drive and determination. Despite having a hemorrhagic stroke in March 2016, Emily was a contributing member of TPW and pulled her own weight, even with her physical limitations.
Kristin, the second recipient, due to unfortunate family circumstances, was put into a position where her siblings were dependent on her leadership and looked to her as a parental figure in their everyday lives. She was able to achieve “Best in Show” for a video she made and produced, and also won scholarships through Courageous Persuaders both years.
She was the was the producer of this year’s Best Newscast episode of LO-AM. She has now committed herself to further her education and aspires to help those around her.
This scholarship is funded by the TPW alumni. Anyone who would like to contribute can do so at: https://parent.payschools.com/cat.asp?id=C77F8716D2A64460846A6AA
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