Westborough – Allison “Ally” Thibault, a senior at Westborough High School (WHS), was chosen as the 2013 Deborah A. Penta Female Leadership Scholarship recipient.
“Each year, we receive applications and essays from numerous young women who are bright, accomplished and truly exemplify leadership qualities academically, socially, within the community, and oftentimes within their faith communities and in athletics,” said Deborah Penta, CEO, PENTA Communications, Inc. “Ally truly stood apart and we were impressed with her diversified leadership accomplishments, and with her resiliency.”
In addition to an outstanding GPA in her high school years, she has received numerous awards and distinguished honors, is a member of the National Honor Society, French National Honor Society and Spanish National Honor Society. She is a WHS Student Ambassador, a tutor, a member of the WHS soccer team, basketball team, indoor and outdoor track teams, and an active member in St. Luke's Church Youth Ministry. She has been a regular member of a team for the American Cancer Society's “Relay for Life” and is a participant in the Venture Crew 100, a co-ed branch of the Boy Scouts of America.
In addition, she holds a year-round job. She is also an accomplished artist, having shown some of her pieces at the Westborough Public Schools District Spring Art Exhibit and at the Arts in Common in Westborough.
According to her English teacher David Meyers, “Ally is in a category all by herself. She is among the dozen or so most gifted and high-achieving students that I’ve ever had in my 15 years of teaching, and the college she chooses will be lucky to have her. To simply extol her academic virtues is to miss the point. Ally is a genuinely kind person, and both her teachers and her classmates admire her.”
WHS Guidance Counselor Allison Jasmin concurred.
“Ally has made an exceptional impact in the WHS community?. Ally presents with a successful combination of kindness, intellect, inquisitiveness, and courage,” she said. “She has proven herself to be an involved, dedicated and resilient individual.”
Her outstanding example is one she shares with her fellow students as a WHS Ambassador, a title she has held for the last two years.
“I show kids around during freshman orientation…. I wanted to help other new kids so that being new wouldn's be such an agonizing event,” Thibault said.
Future plans for Thibault this fall include attending Syracuse University, Newhouse School, one of the top communications programs in the country. She plans to major in TV, radio and film.
“I's open to a lot of things and would love to work in the entertainment field, but I's very open-minded about my future,” Thibault said.
When asked how she is able to balance everything, her answer is a humble one.
“It's a little tricky sometimes, but I like being busy,” she said.
The Deborah A. Penta Female Leadership Award was founded in 2005 by Deborah Penta, CEO of PENTA Communications, Inc., of Westborough, to help inspire and acknowledge female high school students at WHS who excel in their leadership roles in academia and extracurricular activities. Applicants must be college-bound female high school seniors, and are required to submit a full résumé, essay, and three letters of recommendation from a faculty member and other individuals, who can explain how the student has demonstrated leadership qualities in her classroom, team, committee or place of employment.
