By Clark Judge
(April 24, 2026) — Attention, high-school seniors! Time is running out to apply for the Killingworth Ambulance Association’s 2026 scholarships. The deadline is Friday, May 1, 2026 and requirements are specific.
Scholarships are awarded only to seniors who reside in Killingworth and who are enrolled in public or private institutions. But applicants must also meet the following criteria:
* — Have been accepted to a continuing education institution of two or four years and plan on attending it.
* — Plan to major in the medical, emergency services (police, fire, etc.) or other allied fields.
* — Perform at least 30 hours of community service.
* — Maintain a GPA of 3.0 or higher during their high-school careers.
Applications are available at Haddam-Killingworth, Xavier and Mercy High Schools or can be obtained by logging on to killingworthambulance.org and downloading copies. Recipients will be named at their schools’ Awards Night, with checks issued upon on completion of the students’ first collegiate semesters.
Over the past ten years the KAA has awarded 36 scholarships, including eight of $1,500-2,500 each in 2024-2025. While all eight students attended Haddam-Killingworth High School, that is not a requirement. Past recipients included students from Xavier, Mercy and Lyme-Old Lyme High Schools.
“Why would I tell someone to apply?” asked Trevor Hines, one of five seniors awarded a 2018 scholarship. “There’s nothing to lose, that’s why. Plus, there’s part of college besides tuition that you don’t think about, like buying books. Having the money helps with that.”
Now 26, Hines is a marshal at a federal courthouse in New London.
“You know what that scholarship did for me?” asked Jasmine Byrne, a 2021 recipient who attended the University of New Haven. “It made me proud of myself. It made me feel that I could actually do something good. I knew that I always had the power to do something, but for a group of people to say, ‘Yes, we believe in this girl, and we want to financially back her’… that was so fulfilling. I don’t think I would be able to have the confidence to do much of what I did at UNH without that.”
Earlier this month Byrne accepted a job at a high-profile pharmaceutical company, working as an analytical chemist in product development.
For more information, please contact the Killingworth Ambulance Association at (860) 663-2450 or log on to killingworthambulance.org.
Pictured above: 2025 Scholarship recipients Chase Lenart (L) and Madalynn Catalano (R) flank the KAA’s Mary Robbenhaar-Fretz.
