BUTLER TWP — The Butler County Housing Authority and sponsors awarded $6,000 in scholarships Tuesday at a luncheon at the Days Inn on Route 8 south.

The scholarship luncheon has awarded more than $60,000 in 12 years to help high school and college students continue their education.

Butler Mayor Margaret Stock was the keynote speaker, discussing the importance of higher education while reflecting on her 30-year career as a teacher and professor at Butler County Community College.

She said she keeps two stickers on the window sill in her office that she believes are the keys to success.

"The first is just written on a Post-it note and says, 'Success is an attitude,'" Stock told her audience of about 96 sponsors, community leaders and award winners.

"The second is from junk mail and says, 'Act as though it were impossible to fail,'" she added.

"You must be willing to learn about things and ideas and these will enable you to figure out what you want to do," Stock said. "You must realize what your potential can be because life is far more entertaining (when you succeed) than for those who give up along the way."

This year's scholarship winners are:

• Kasey Lee Wise, the Mellon Bank Scholarship winner, will transfer from BC3 to the Community College of Allegheny County to study radiologic technology

• Marcy Berstein, the National City Bank Scholarship winner, will transfer from BC3 to the University of Pittsburgh to continue studying criminology

• Loucinda Lynn Creel, the PNCBank Scholarship winner, will continue as a general studies major at BC3

• Jamie Danielle McKinley, the Excalibur Insurance Services Scholarship winner, will continue studying psychology at BC3

• Elizabeth Campbell, the NexTier BankScholarship winner, is studying history at Slippery Rock University and hopes to become the curator of a museum

• Dodie Matuke, the Leonard S. Fiore Scholarship winner, will continue to study accounting at BC3

• Judy Nolder, the Jud Sedwick-Armstrong Scholarship winner, will complete her bachelor's degree in forensic chemistry at SRU in 2008

• Lisandro Cumba, the James A. Green Scholarship winner, will be a senior at Butler High School next year and hopes to become a Spanish teacher and interpreter.