By Dave Matlow
Co-Chair Ted Sullivan addresses tonight’s Staples Tuition Grants Committee awards night. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com
The economy has contributed to a sharp increase in the number of students at Westport’s Staples High School seeking financial aid from the Staples Tuition Grants program, a program official told the group’s annual awards night tonight.
Ted Sullivan, co-chair of the grants committee, said the difficult economic climate resulted in 106 grant applications this year compared to last year’s 80.
At the meeting, the names were announced of the recipients of the 77 grants awarded this year—to 24 Staples seniors and 53 Staples alumni.
Despite the endowment funds having decreased by more than 11 percent, there were sufficient funds raised this year to allow the committee to award $195,000 in grants—similar to the amount distributed a year ago, Sullivan said.
He noted that this year’s 77 recipients compared to 70 last year.
Guest speaker was A.J. Scheetz, chair of the Staples Science Research Department. He told the audience that he was not a good student in high school and when he selected a college, he looked for the cheapest one that would be the furthest away from his parents. 
A large crowd was on hand for the Staples Tuition Grants Committee’s annual awards night. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com
Scheetz enrolled at lake Superior State College in Michigan where he hoped to play hockey and eventually become a professional hockey player. But when he made the dean’s list in his first semester he said he became a different person. “College is an opportunity to remake yourself,” he said.
Scheetz went on to graduate from the Michigan school in 1984 and earned his Ph.D at the University of Colorado in 1990. Born in Amarillo, Texas to military parents, Scheetz said career opportunities led him to Staples eight years ago.
