How nominees, winner are chosen
Each year, the 14 high schools within The Salem News readership area (Beverly, Salem, Danvers, Peabody, Marblehead, Swampscott, Ipswich, Hamilton-Wenham, Masconomet, Pingree, North Shore Tech/Essex Aggie, Manchester Essex, Bishop Fenwick and St. John's Prep) select a student to represent their school for a particular year. Transcripts, resumes and letters of recommendation for each student-athlete are then sent to The Salem News.
Each candidate must combine academic excellence, outstanding athletic prowess and the ability to multi-task in areas such as volunteering, working part-time and/or giving back to their community.
Each student-athlete candidate is then interviewed by a panel of five judges at The Salem News offices in Beverly on the day that the Student-Athlete Award will be presented. After all the interviews, the judges discuss the candidates until they reach a consensus on who the for that year will be.
That evening, each of the nominees and their families meet with the judges and members of The Salem News for a dinner and awards ceremony. Each of the student-athletes are recognized individually during the dinner, and a guest speaker delivers a short speech to the assembled audience after dinner.
After the speech, the 51st annual Salem News Student-Athlete winner will be announced. The winner receives a $1,000 Nelson Benton Scholarship, named in honor of long-time Salem News reporter and editor. They will also receive a commemorative bowl signifying the win, along with their name engraved on the Student-Athlete Trophy. In addition, the winner's school will get to showcase the actual trophy, a Paul Revere-style bowl made of sterling silver, with the names of all the previous winners engraved on it.
Judges this year are Lorin Buksa, a career counselor at North Shore Community College; Julie Livingston, president of Marblehead Bank; Michael Dellisola, claims examiner for Energi Insurance Services in Peabody; Bob Hanson, assistant vice president for commercial banking at Salem Five Bank; and Phil Stacey, sports editor at The Salem News.
The Award Ceremony
Congratulations to winner Dylan Mann of Masconomet. Mann was named the 51st winner of the Salem News Student-Athlete Award at the annual banquet at Finz in Salem on April 4. See story and photos
Peter
FratesGuest speaker was Peter Frates of Beverly, a former St. John's Prep and Boston College baseball captain who is now battling amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, better known as Lou Gehrig's Disease). Frates told student-athletes to be passionate, genuine and hard working. See story and photos
Nelson
BentonThe $1,000 scholarship given to the yearly winner of The Salem News Student-Athlete Award has been renamed the Nelson Benton Scholarship. Benton was a longtime writer, editor and editorial page editor of the Salem News. For many years, he spearheaded our Student-Athlete Award planning, coverage and presentation. He retired in 2012.
