MALDEN, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) â Graduating seniors in Malden got a major surprise at the city's annual senior night.
During the event, Malden Mayor Gary Christenson announce the city will be providing a $1,000 scholarship to all graduating seniors from the city of Malden that are attending college after graduation. The announcement was met with a standing ovation and cheers from the students and families in the crowd at the event.
The scholarships are for every senior who lives in the city, regardless of which high school they attended, and are paid for using leftover funding from the American Rescue Plan Act that the federal government gave to the city.
Mayor Christenson said the goal of the scholarships is to reward the students for their hard work in school during the pandemic.
"It's something that we're proud to announce and be able to do for our students," Mayor Christenson said. "We just thought it made sense not only because of what they've experienced during the past couple of years but also due to some of the recent announcements of tuition if you can believe it, increasing even further in the coming years."
The mayor said he plans to reach out to any students from Malden that do not go to Malden High to let them know about the scholarships.
Since the city funded the scholarships through federal COVID relief funds, Mayor Christenson said they plan to re-evaluate the plan during the next school year to see if they can give out the scholarships again.
WBZ's Suzanne Sausville (@wbzSausville)Â reports.