Five East Hampton High School rising juniors and seniors have been named the first recipients of East Hampton Level Playing Field Foundation scholarships.
Daniela Chavez, Judah D’Andrea, Rose Pillco, Jocelyn Prieto and Raymond Siguencia were selected from a pool of 10 applicants, and will receive $3,000 to $10,000 grants to be used for college counseling, standardized test preparation and other services to aid them in seeking admission to elite colleges. The group is scheduled to be recognized — alongside their families, counselors and foundation representatives — at EPIC Insurance Brokers, formerly Cook Maran Insurance, on August 25.
East Hampton Level Playing Field Foundation founder and President Christopher Kelley was inspired to create his nonprofit after reading a Newsday article about 2018 graduates and Valedictorian Alexander “Nick” Sigua Pintado and Salutatorian Jonathan Gomez Barrientos. The two immigrated from Central and South America, and in a story highlighting their high school successes, said they’d struggled to afford college counseling assistance and SAT prep like most of their classmates.
“During the college admissions process, I often found myself lost, confused and unprepared,” Sigua Pintado said. “I believe this program can help guide and support other students like me — who may be first generation or just lacking resources — who might feel the same way.”
Kelley said he’s beaming with pride to be able to provide the support, adding it’s been years in the making.
“We started this before the pandemic, but things were put on hold because of COVID-19, and now, we’ve been able to get this up and running and we’re really happy,” Kelley said. “We hope we can really help them with this.”
The founder, who is also a senior partner at the law firm Twomey, Latham, Shea, Kelley, Dubin & Quartararo, LLP, has been part of scholarship nights in East Hampton for years. At the end of May, nearly $400,000 is given out by local organizations and businesses.
“It occurred to me that … this might be a good use of funds and help these kids who might not otherwise aspire to go to an ivy league school or an elite college,” Kelley said. “A lot of us, for instance, my kids, had the advantage of being able to use the counselors and SAT prep courses that their mother and I paid for to make sure their scores were up. Because we had resources, they had that advantage — but not everyone has that advantage.”
Gomez Barrientos, who graduated from Cornell University in the spring, said he’s excited to see an initiative like this take off.
“Navigating the college application process as a first-generation student was challenging,” he said. “Having a program here at East Hampton with the goal of helping students attend elite colleges is especially meaningful to me, because I know first-hand how impactful programs like these can be.”
East Hampton High School Principal Sara Smith agrees.
“This is an excellent opportunity for our students who are college-bound and require additional financial support,” she said. “We are grateful to the committee of community members who took such an initiative to help our students.”
The organization will begin a new fundraising drive within the next week, sending out a letter and emails with the hope, Kelley said, of building a network of contributors — his firm being the largest donor to-date. The nonprofit’s board has a goal of granting three to five scholarships every year. Donations can be made by sending checks to the East Hampton Level Playing Field Foundation at 727 Accabonac Road in East Hampton or online at EHLPFF.org.
“You don’t just want rich, white kids to be populating the campuses of our best schools,” Kelley said. “You want diverse economic and cultural backgrounds, so, to do that, you make sure the people that could use a little help get the help. We can help make their applications much more competitive and teach them how to navigate the process.”
