Three high school graduates each won $1,000 scholarships from the Connecticut School Bus Operators Association.

Kathryn Droessler of Washington, Conn., Paul Poidomani of New Britain, Conn., and Victoria Powell of Simsbury, Conn., were recently selected the reicipients of then Leslie R. Leeds Memorial Scholarship. Nominees must be the dependent children of COSTA members or school district transportation employees and maintain at least a 3.0 GPA. The student must also be enrolled in or accepted for admission to an accredited institution of higher education by the coming fall.

Droessler graduated from Shepuag Valley High School this past spring and plans to study criminology/pre-law at Western Connecticut State University this fall. She is the daughter of Kathryn Droessler of All-Star Transportation. Poidomani graduated No. 4 in a class of 788 at New Britain High School in 2008 and is a second-year honors student at Providence College studying medicine. He is the son of Paul Poidomani of DATTCO. Powell graduated in 2009 from Simsbury High School and is entering her second year at Penn State, where she is majoring psychology and minoring in biology.

Leslie Leeds, the late daughter of former COSTA Executive Director and NSTA consultant Robin Leeds, passed away in February 1996. She was only 23 years old. Leslie was valedictorian of the Class of 1991 at Lewis S. Mills High School and graduated summa cum laude from Connecticut College in 1995, where she was a Winthrop Scholar and a member of Phi Beta Kappa.