Scoopomaniacs Academic Excellence Award

By: Kurt Romberg | J Classes Chairman | Nov 22, 2022

Photo: APBA

As Chair of the Junior Classes Committee, I have the honor of working with philanthropists to bring new awards to the youth of APBA. I am happy to announce a new Junior Classes award, the Scoopomaniacs Academic Excellence Award. This award is for one male Junior Classes driver and one female Junior Classes driver. The award is a cash deposit of $500 into a 529 Educational savings account. Also included are clock based trophies for each winner. This award is sponsored by Steve and Rick Fales of Powermist Racing Fuels plus Robert Trolian to provide the cash. The Doug Martin Family will provide the clock trophies for the winners and will ship the trophies to their homes if they are not present to receive them.

The Scoopomaniacs Academic Excellence Award has been spearheaded by Robert “Scoop” Trolian. Scoop mentioned this to me a number of months ago and was very specific in that he wanted to combine school grades and racing points into an award. He asked me to think about how to do that. After speaking with some teachers within the APBA ranks, I came up with a plan. After going back and forth a number of times with Scoop, brainstorming on the details of the award, it was Scoop that came up with the plan for a wire transfer of money into a 529 Educational savings account. If the winner(s) does not have a 529 account, help will be provided in setting one up. Scoop felt that starting or adding to a 529 account gave both family and friends the ability to add to the account and build it until it is time to use it.

This award is unique, in that it requires the contestants to apply for the award. The reason has to do with the school grade caveat. Parents or guardians of the contestants are required to provide photocopies of the previous year’s grade cards, or screen shots of electronic communication between the school system and the participant showing the applicants grades through the entire year. If a GPA is shown in the application, that GPA will be used. If the application doesn’t include a GPA, one will be calculated based on the grades provided, using generally accepted scholastic practices.

The winners will be determined by a compilation of their total points in all of the J classes and their cumulative GPA over the past school year. A committee will make this determination following publication of the National High Points by the APBA

The decision of the committee will be final.

Winners will be announced and presented with the trophies at the national meeting – this year held in Seattle.

To apply for this award, reach out to myself, Kurt Romberg at stockchiefInspector@gmail.com, and I will get you the application. Applications must be made by Dec. 15, 2022 for the 2022 Award, which will cover the 2022 racing year and the fall 2021/spring 2022 schoolyear. Good luck to all competitors.

Scoopomaniacs Academic Excellence Award

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