Celine van Breukelen

Anchorage, AK

Hydrologist, National Weather Service

District 815 – Dayton, OH

GBU Foundation Freshman Scholarship 2003–2006

Ohio State University, B.S., Industrial and Systems Engineering

About my GBU Foundation Scholarship:

“The scholarship allowed me a little more financial freedom to explore.

Due to my ability to travel, I was able to visit Alaska, which I now call home.”



Since I graduated:

“In part due to my GBU Foundation scholarship, I was able to graduate undergrad without debt. This allowed me the freedom to explore. I had the opportunity to do something completely different by attending graduate school at the University of Alaska studying civil engineering. This flexibility allowed me to have a career about which I am passionate. I get to help people in a place that I love.”

Presley Dougherty

Mount Airy, MD

Graduate Student

The Pennsylvania State University

District 291 – Summerhill-Lilly, PA

GBU Foundation Undergraduate Scholarship 2020-2022

GBU Foundation Graduate Scholarship 2023

The Pennsylvania State University, B.S., Mechanical Engineering

The Pennsylvania State University, Pursuing an M.S., Engineering Design

About my GBU Foundation Scholarship:

“I was able to purchase books, a laptop and more easily afford tuition in school because of my scholarships. I was able to focus on being a student without added financial stress. I was able to maintain good grades and get into graduate school as well. My ultimate goal is to work in automotive design, and I am getting closer to that goal every day. I am so grateful for the people and opportunities that I have been granted that have brought me to where I am today.”



As an undergraduate:

“I was the controls, brakes and safety lead for the Penn State formula racing team. In that role, I worked on designing, manufacturing, testing the braking system and driver interface and ensuring we had the proper safety equipment. I had two internships with Ford Motor Company’s Vehicle Propulsion Systems Engineering. This past summer, I worked on powertrain simulations for their diesel vehicles and even made the trip to their headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan.”

Mario Gioiello

Bethel, AK

Pilot

GBU Foundation Freshman Scholarship 2019-2022

Kent State University, Aeronautics with Flight Tech Concentration

Elena Gioiello

Cleveland, OH

Dental School Student

GBU Foundation Freshman Scholarship 2019-2022

GBU Foundation Graduate Scholarship 2023

Walsh University,

Biology with Business Minor

Case Western Reserve University School of Dental Medicine

Jolena Gioiello

Sandusky, OH

Education Reporter,

Sandusky Register

GBU Foundation Grant 2019

GBU Foundation Undergraduate Scholarship 2020-2021

Ohio State University, Communications

Three Winners, Three Stories

By Jolena Gioiello

Mario, Elena and Jolena Gioiello, 23-year-old triplets, have been GBU members since they were two years old. The trio grew up in Girard, Ohio, and attended Niles McKinley High School. In 2019, Mario and Elena graduated with 4.0 GPAs as two of six valedictorians, and Jolena graduated with a 3.9 GPA. After graduation, they went separate ways for the first time in their lives and are all on unique paths five years later.

Mario

Mario attended Kent State University to continue his dream of flying. He majored in aeronautics with a concentration in flight tech. This field of study was a simple choice because he had been a certified pilot as long as he had been licensed to drive. Mario used scholarship funding to pay for his tuition. He worked for Kent University Airport during school. After college, he accepted positions at the Akron/Canton Airport and the Wadsworth Airport to stay in the area. His scholarship funding helped him earn a certificate in multi-engine flight instructor training. With this, he could instruct students at the airport.

“I’ve pretty much lived out of airports since my freshman year,” Mario said. “I even bought a cot to sleep on between my long shifts. It’s hard work, but I wouldn’t want to be doing anything else.”

Mario’s long-term plan differed from his pilot classmates. Most sought after flying for big airlines transporting vacationing passengers, but not Mario. Mario was too adventurous. Instead, he explored options 3,000 miles away from his home. At 22 years old, Mario began flying a Cessna 207 and became the youngest pilot on his flight team in Alaska.

“The multi-engine certificate I got with the help of GBU gave me a big leg up in being chosen to fly our larger twin engine airplanes at our company in Bethel,” Mario said.

Mario works long hours delivering supplies and transporting passengers around the state, including staying a week alone at a remote site near the Yukon River to make deliveries to surrounding villages. He works two weeks "on" and two weeks “off” but continues working at the Akron/Canton Airport on his “off” weeks.

“I’d like to say thank you to the donors who funded my scholarship from GBU,” Mario said. “I would not be where I am today, especially in as short of a time, without GBU.”

“All three have achieved and still are experiencing so many great steps in life. At all stages, GBU’s financial help was a help for them.” - Betty Gioiello, Mario, Elena and Jolena’s Grandmother

Elena

Elena went to Walsh University to study biology with a business minor and take her first steps to becoming a dentist. She spent, and continues to spend, all her time studying, even multitasking with other activities like running or hula-hooping. She will spend hours with a book in her hands and a hula hoop going around non-stop.

When not studying, Elena spent her time helping others as a tutor. Her favorite part about tutoring was “the confidence I see in other students when they begin to understand the material and they exhibit an ambition to learn more.”

In the little free time she had, Elena was Sir Walter, Walsh University’s mascot. She was vice-president of Walsh University’s science club and pre-dental club.

Elena received Walsh University’s Outstanding Student Award, the most prestigious student academic honor given to a single senior with a grade point average greater than 3.9, interdisciplinary excellence, intellectual curiosity and a commitment to academic rigor and depth. Elena joined the math and science honors and business honors societies and presented research at the 2023 Ohio Academy of Science Conference.

Elena shadowed a Walsh University alumna and completed an internship at Niles Family Dentistry. When on break from school, Elena shows off her dental skills by practicing on her siblings and goes to her family’s dentist to watch and help him work on patients.

Elena graduated from Walsh University in May 2023 and is studying for a Doctor of Medicine in Dentistry at the Case Western Reserve University School of Dental Medicine. She joined Case Western Reserve University’s Delta Sigma Delta Dental Fraternity.

“College and dental school are expensive, so these scholarships helped alleviate the stress a little bit,” Elena said. “I would like to thank the donors who provided me the opportunity to receive the scholarships, as they have allowed me to continue pursuing my goal of becoming a dentist.”

Jolena

“I decided to apply for a GBU Foundation scholarship to lighten the overall cost of school,” Jolena said. “I knew I wanted to go on for more schooling, and this really helped me do that.” Jolena studied at Ohio State University (OSU), starting at the branch campus in Wooster, Ohio, and then moved to the Columbus main campus. She studied communications and worked part-time for the university’s engagement center. She was responsible for reaching out to alumni and keeping them engaged through updates on the campus and hospital.

At OSU, Jolena was a member of the Public Relations Student Society of America national organization for students interested in public relations and related fields, the Practice student-run public relations firm on campus, and MUNDO, a club focusing on culture and diversity.

After graduating a year early, Jolena continued working for the engagement center and took a role at the American Jersey Cattle Association, an association promoting the Jersey cattle breed. Her responsibilities ranged from writing and sending press releases, updating their website and working on the association’s monthly magazine. Jolena still works remotely for the association.

“The American Jersey Cattle Association and the engagement center both really helped me get where I am now,” Jolena said. “I like working in education, and writing is something I’ve loved for as long as I can remember.”

After gaining a year of experience, she moved to Sandusky, Ohio, where she is the education reporter at the Sandusky Register. Jolena covers all things school-related for surrounding counties.

“I feel like I am doing some really important work through the position I have now,” Jolena said. “I’m acting as the messenger between the people making decisions that affect entire communities and those who live in them.”

She has collaborated with local superintendents and teachers and officials as high up as the Ohio lieutenant governor. She has covered news stories from statewide debates on private school voucher programs to local schools’ academic competitions.

“Our grandma, Betty Gioiello, was a big help when it came to applying for the scholarship,” Jolena said. “I’m very thankful for her and all the donors who have given to the GBU Foundation's scholarships.”

The Gioiello family has had seven GBU Foundation scholarship recipients in total. Cousins Doug, Matt, Danya and Madison Gioiello also received scholarships.

“No other investment yields as great a return as the investment in education.”

– Brad Henry, former Oklahoma Governor

Please consider donating to the GBU Foundation to support scholarships for extraordinary scholars and leaders like Celine, Presley, Mario, Elena and Jolena. Your gift directly impacts students like them and ripples through our communities and our world.

You may give online at gbu.org/foundation or mail a check to the GBU Foundation, 4254 Saw Mill Run Blvd, Pittsburgh, PA 15227-3394. If you are interested in information about funding your own scholarship or educational grant at the GBU Foundation, please contact Charitable Giving and PR Specialist, Ken Elliott, at kenneth.elliott@gbu.org or 412-336-3246, or the Community Engagement Team at memberbenefits@gbu.org or 800-765-4428.