Scholarships honor 9/11 victim, city patrolman

PHOTOGRAPHER: Steven Cook

Schenectady High School graduate Brynna Baldauf is headed off to college with help from the latest scholarship honoring another Schenectady High School alumnus.

And Jayme Cook will study criminal justice, aided by a scholarship in the memory of a city police officer killed in the line of duty.

Baldauf was selected earlier this year out of about 30 candidates for the Michael R. Canty Memorial Scholarship. The scholarship is funded through an annual run, with this year’s scheduled for Sunday in Central Park.

“She came across to us as being worthy of it,” Canty’s father, Ed, said. “She’s a nice kid with a good character and good grades.”

Michael R. Canty, 30, a 1989 Schenectady High School graduate, was killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Canty was at his office with Carr Futures at One World Trade Center when terrorists hit the tower.

The scholarship was formed the year after to honor Canty’s memory and help a Schenectady High School student attend college.

And with the help of donations through the annual Mike Canty Family Fun Run, scholarship recipients receive $6,000 each year for up to four years.

Baldauf is attending the Rochester Institute of Technology this fall, intending to study graphic design, Ed Canty said.

Recipients also become almost part of the family, invited up to the family camp each year.

This year’s fun run is scheduled for Sunday at 3 p.m. in Central Park at the pavilion. Race-day registration is $25 per adult, $5 per child and $60 maximum per family. Registration begins at 1 p.m.

A picnic and barbecue after the race is to be put on by Giffy’s Bar-B-Q. Kids crafts and entertainment will also be on hand.

The event not only funds the scholarship, Ed Canty said, but it’s also a time to remember his son.

“It’s really set up to honor him,” Ed Canty said. “It’s a time for a lot of his friends to get together.”

VERTERAMO AWARD

Cook, another 2008 Schenectady High School graduate, is heading to Canisius College as this year’s winner of the scholarship named for Officer Eric J. Verteramo, who was killed in an accident while on duty in 2004.

Cook is to study criminal justice, in hopes of becoming a homicide detective.

She is the latest recipient of the $2,500 annual scholarship honoring Verteramo. The officer, a Schenectady High School graduate and five-year veteran of the force, was on his way to a motorcycle accident when his patrol car slammed into a telephone pole on Broadway near the Bellevue railroad overpass. He was 30 years old.

The Patrolman Eric J. Verteramo memorial scholarship is given annually to a student who will be pursuing a career in the criminal justice field.

Cook is the daughter of Patricia and Henry Cook. The Schenectady PBA along with the Verteramo family presented her the check.