Cepheus Memorial Scholarship Fund
Established 2010
The support family and friends of Shimelis Cepheus established this scholarship to help keep the memory and dreams of that ‘Diamond in the Rough’ alive. He was better known to the people in his life here in Schuylkill County as ‘Shimmy’. His life began in the country of Ethiopia where he lived until the age of nine. He spent his school years learning in the Pottsville and Schuylkill Haven Area School Districts. Shimmy loved the sport of soccer and enjoyed sharing that love with his friends and teammates. He participated in the Schuylkill County Youth Soccer Program for a number of years and then went on to play for the Schuylkill Haven Area High School and Penn State University, Schuylkill Campus. He had a great passion for the game and it showed every time he played. From his days spent playing soccer in dirt fields back in Ethiopia to playing on the grass turf fields of Schuylkill County, you could tell that is where he felt most comfortable. It was after one of those games during his high school freshman year that his high school coach referred to him as a ‘Diamond in the Rough’. He was speaking about his soccer skills at that moment, but to the people who were his support family that term truly applied to him as a person.
This fund provides a scholarship to graduating high school seniors of Schuylkill Haven High School and/or Pottsville Area High School, who plan on attending an institution of higher education. Preference shall be given first to seniors who are currently or in the past were in the Schuylkill County Foster Care System, and second to seniors who participated in his or her school’s soccer program during their high school career.
