The Trumbull Board of Education discuss the proposed 2022-23 budget at a meeting on Feb. 8, 2022. The board voted on March 8, 2022 to accept donations for a scholarship fund in honor of 2021 Trumbull High grad Chelsea Cunha, who died in January.
Screenshot /TRUMBULL — The death of 18-year-old Chelsea Cunha in January was “just a parent’s nightmare,” said Trumbull Superintendent Martin Semmel.
Cunha, a 2021 Trumbull High School graduate and University of Connecticut student, died Jan. 10 at Hartford Hospital from what the office of the chief medical examiner determined was a pulmonary embolism. She was a freshman at UConn and was studying to be a math teacher.
A scholarship was created in Cunha’s honor, and Semmel reported during Tuesday’s Board of Education meeting that, due to some generous donations, $31,500 has already been raised for the fund. Of that, $25,000 was donated by Pennsylvania-based Bimbo Bakeries USA and another $4,000 came from the Trumbull High School Class of 2021 student activity account.
“Obviously this is a sad thing to be having to accept donations like this, because Chelsea was a graduate of last year’s class and really suffered a fate that is just a parent’s nightmare,” Semmel said. In spite of that tragedy, he said he’s “really happy to see that there’s some good, some positive coming from this.”
According to the scholarship’s website, it was designed to “honor Chelsea’s commitment to the field of education, high academics, participation in athletics, and community involvement outside of school.”
“Chelsea was known by her friends, teachers, and family for her kindness, ability to elevate others and bring people together, to work hard and play hard, and do it with an infectious smile,” the site reads. “It will be an honor to award a scholarship to a candidate that best represents Chelsea’s aspirations.”
Under Board of Education policy, the board had to vote whether to accept the donation to the scholarship fund, and they voted unanimously to do so. Anyone interested in donating to the scholarship can visit its website, http://www.chelseacunha.com/.