Warwick Valley High School Valedictorian Thomas Kanz has been named the 2023 winner of the Walden Savings Bank David T. Cocks Scholarship. An Eagle Scout, Kanz has achieved a litany of academic and athletic honors as well as a deep record of community service. He is the first Warwick Valley High School student to earn the $2,500 scholarship.
Cocks served as president and CEO of Walden Savings Bank before passing away in 2011. The scholarship, initiated in 2014 and administered by the Community Foundation of Orange and Sullivan, each year awards $2,500 to an inbound college student in the bank”™s geographic branch territory. Cocks is fondly remembered as a man of great character, a devoted family man and friend who made a difference in many lives through his career and volunteer service.
Kanz”™s credentials include attaining a 4.23 grade-point average, based on a scale of 4, and completing more than 100 hours of community service through the start of 12th grade. A member of the National Honor Society and the Mu Alpha Theta National Math Honor Society, Kanz has participated in numerous school clubs, received numerous scholastic awards and achieved a rare perfect score on the 2022 Advanced Placement Computer Science Principles Exam.
Walden Savings Bank, established in 1872, Walden Savings Bank is the 11th oldest federally chartered mutual savings bank and is headquartered in Montgomery, New York. With a total of 11 full-service branches serving Orange and Ulster counties and a Loan Production office in Dutchess County, the bank”™s progressive style of community banking provides products that cater to both the individual and the growing mid-size business sector.