One college bound student from the Fort LeBoeuf School District is coming off a big night. She is the $5,000 scholarship winner from the Northwest PA Emerging Leader Class Act Award.

The awards banquet was held Thursday night at the Northwest Tri-County Intermediate Unit, otherwise known as the IU5 in Edinboro.
Erie News Now Anchor Eva Mastromatteo served as the emcee for the event. She had the chance to surprise the winning students from across 17 school districts, each month, with a live on-air reveal during the school year.

They each received a $1,000 scholarship.
They then wrote essays, for the chance to win a $5,000 scholarship.
Graduating Senior Samantha McIntyre was the big winner.
The award culminates the work of many organizers behind the scenes.

Jim Martin, is the founder of the Class Act Award. He says, "This was something we thought would be great to get the public education recognized,scholarships tying in from Erie County, Warren County and Crawford County. "

Brad Whitman is the Executive Director of the IU5. He says it wasn't about the top athlete of scholar, instead, "It really was that well-rounded student."

Whitman also says the hope is to continue the awards, and in time, offer more money to the students.

The award was made possible by several local sponsors including, Tendto Credit Union, Velocity Network, Orthopedic Associates of
Meadville, and Lilly Broadcasting.