I was very honored on May 28, 2020 to present my personally funded scholarship at Upper Darby High School’s Senior Awards Night.

The UDHS Class of 2020 recipient of the Joseph P. Batory scholarship is Aisha Omer, an academic achiever and outstanding member of Upper Darby High’s Class of 2020. Aisha is the 38th Upper Darby grad to receive the Joseph P. Batory Scholarship.

Aisha has been a wonderful addition to the Upper Darby School District since arriving in the USA from Pakistan. Beginning in 6^th grade at Beverly Hills Middle School, she excelled and subsequently became a topnotch student at Upper Darby High School.

Aisha has been accepted by six prestigious universities. Aisha will attned Temple University in the fall of 2020 and will be well on her way to a successful career in health services.

Upper Darby High School’s internal scholarship awards were presented to members of the Class of 2020 via a “virtual” ceremony on Upper Darby’s YouTube channel.

These Upper Darby internal scholarship awards annually provide important financial supplements to the many other scholarships and grants which have or will be awarded from the universities which the Upper Darby grads will be attending in the fall.

Upper Darby’s internal scholarship awards are unique and historic. They have been donated by past school system staff, graduates, labor unions, community organizations, every Home and School Association, and individual families who have established awards in memory of loved ones, and other donors.

“I have never ceased to be amazed at the products of Upper Darby High School.” Said Batory. “While high schools which educate students from affluent and basically homogenized communities regularly get public acclaim, Upper Darby High is significantly underrated yet it has been and continues to be about making a difference for all who come to them.

“The brilliant, the newcomer, the achiever who has overcome adversity, the average, the slow learner, and those with special needs all exist in large numbers at Upper Darby High.  Indeed, the diversity of Upper Darby High, academically, socio-economically, racially and ethnically, is staggering. And its legacy of success stories for many thousands of pupils from all sorts of backgrounds is exemplary.”

There are 72 languages spoken in the homes of Upper Darby students. Over the past 32 years the ethnic backgrounds of just a few of the Joseph P. Batory Scholarship winners speaks for itself. Here are a few of the names of these awardees: Kurbaj: Ong; Arsenlis; Ko; Shah; Mozdzanowska; Phan; Khawaja; Ferdaus; Nguyen; Lai; Phung; Hussain and Ansari. 

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Joseph Batory was the superintendent of schools of the Upper Darby School District from 1984 to 1999. The Joseph P. Batory Scholarship, one of Upper Darby’s internal scholarship awards, has been presented to 38 different UDHS graduates.