Founded in 2010 by graduates of the Class of 1985 and coordinated by the Good Samaritan Association, the Merit-Based Scholarship Program marked 15 years of supporting high-achieving students in 2025. The jubilee brought together more than 70 alumni for a festive evening at Samuil Vulcan High School, celebrating 259 scholarships awarded across 10 schools, including one in Bulgaria, and more than 300,000 lei invested in excellence over the years.

In 2025 alone, 24 scholarships were awarded across four schools in Beiuș, making the anniversary event an evening filled with emotion, gratitude, and inspiration.

At the heart of this journey are the more than 200 scholarship beneficiaries, including Silviu Ureche, Andrei Beleiu, Denis Știube, Paul Tal, and internationally medal-winning Olympian Tamio-Nakajima Vesa. Their achievements have been made possible not only by their own dedication, but also by the teachers, parents, and sponsors who have supported them along the way.

Among the dedicated coordinating teachers are Ilie Rus, Ioana-Lăcrămioara Rada, and Ghiță and Simona Cap. Parents such as Adriana Vesa, Daria Hărdălău, and Corina Ardelean, together with committed sponsors including Horia Ban, Vladimir Martinov, Marius Moisescu, Ioan Degău, Camelia Briscan, Florin Miron, and many others, have also played an essential role in making this success possible.

The festive atmosphere was brought to life by former scholarship beneficiaries, including Ionică Bizău, a physics scholarship recipient from the Class of 2014, who surprised the audience with a performance of one of his own compositions on the piano. At Nikollina Ciorna’s invitation, Ionică dedicated the musical tribute to his mentor, Professor Ilie Rus, who was honored with an Excellence Mentor Diploma. The moment filled the room with emotion and was met with heartfelt and well-deserved applause from everyone present.

The program is dedicated to academic excellence and built on a simple but powerful belief: investing in young people means investing in the future.