EASTERN STATES EXPOSITION NAMES ITS 2026 WEST SPRINGFIELD SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS

Three West Springfield High School Seniors Earn Collective $4,500 in Scholarships

Annually, the Eastern States Exposition (ESE) Scholarship recognizes the academic accomplishments of three outstanding graduates from West Springfield High School who plan to continue their education. This year’s recipients are Arianna Hopkins, Gemma Conca and Ann-Marie Asselin. They were presented with their awards by ESE President and CEO Gene Cassidy on Tuesday, June 30.

ESE’s mission champions agriculture, education and regional heritage, and these $1,500 scholarships award students who honor that mission by demonstrating academic excellence, exemplary leadership and a commitment to their community in accordance with the organization’s mission. By investing in the next generation, ESE supports those who will shape the future of Western Mass. and beyond.

“It is my privilege to represent Eastern States Exposition and give you this stipend, which reflects your accomplishments as young women in education. We wish you the very best and hope you will go on to do great things, and I hope to read about all your successes,” said Cassidy.

Arianna Hopkins graduated from West Springfield High School in the top 11% of her class. While enrolled, she was an involved student that took part in many leadership roles and earned much recognition, including the National Honor Society, being named the 2026 Youth of the Year and a semi-finalist for the Massachusetts Youth of the Year, becoming manager of the girls’ varsity basketball team, a term as a team leader for the school’s science fair and two years as a peer mentor supporting fellow students socially and academically.

In 2023, Hopkins worked as an assistant occupational therapist intern at Sensory spOT in Wilbraham, Mass. In 2024, she began to work as a group leader at the West Springfield Boys & Girls Club, and she still hosts activities, prepares snacks and makes sure students are content, entertained and safe there to this day.

Hopkins also gives much of her time to the community. She participated in Rock 102’s three-day food drive, the Mayflower Marathon, thrice; volunteered with Operation SonShine, Free Shopping Day for the Homeless and various community events at Tatham and Fausey Elementary Schools; tutored students at West Springfield Middle School; gave time to West Springfield Parks and Recreation during the holiday season in 2024; assisted with National Honor Society’s induction; and twice welcomed rising students at her high school’s annual Step-up Day.

Hopkins has been accepted into 11 of the 12 college programs she applied for, the one exception being waitlisted acceptance. She plans to study nursing to specialize in pediatrics and mental health units. She hopes to later earn her master’s in nursing and a bachelor’s degree in psychology, too, to fulfill her high-reaching career goal of becoming an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN) in pediatric mental health so she can help children navigate the same physical and mental adversities that she has overcome.

Gemma Conca also boasts a place in the top 11% of her class at West Springfield High School. She took multiple Advanced Placement (AP) courses in high school, including AP Biology and AP Psychology.

Conca is a student athlete across many rosters; she was on the varsity soccer team, the varsity basketball team and the varsity outdoor track team for four years. She was also on the varsity indoor track team for two seasons. She was team captain of the soccer team during her senior year, and she was peer elected to the same role for the indoor track and field teams in her junior year.

She is a decorated soccer player, with achievements including the 2023 New England DPL Champions, DPL NEP Season Champions, the 2023 National Qualifier in Colorado, the IFA Girls Academy, the 2024 State Cup Champions, the 2024 NAL League Northeast Championships Qualifier, the IFA 2025 NAL New England Champions and the 2025 National Qualifier.

Conca spent three years as an MIAA Student-athlete Ambassador, fundraising events and peer mentoring. She volunteered with National Honor Society at various food and clothing drive fundraisers, was active in student government for four terms, participated in the school’s Irish Club throughout all four years and raised money for sports teams through the Soccer and Track Booster Clubs and the Varsity Sport Team Fundraisers for hockey and basketball.

Outside of school, she gives alms through Rachel’s Table food pantry as an elected member of the Teen Board then as the Vice President of Membership and Outreach. She has been a hostess at Amedeo’s in Holyoke, Mass., since May of 2025, and she works in food and beverage services for Eddie Shore Enterprises on the grounds of ESE both during The Big E and the fairgrounds’ year-round calendar.

Conca plans to study business and health sciences at the University of Connecticut this coming fall.

Ann-Marie Asselin is generous with her time, even while maintaining impressive academic standing. From 2023-2024, she participated in SkillsUSA, a workforce development organization for students that empowers them to become skilled professionals, career-ready leaders and responsible members of their local communities. She has applied these lessons to her own life, especially when she began to mentor students at Career & Technical Educational Collaborative (CTEC) in West Springfield in 2024. She is still working with CTEC today.

For four years, beginning in 2020, she helped foster full-grown cats and kittens, including helping to find these animals permanent homes. From 2023-2024, she gave her time at the Yule Tree Jubilee. In 2024, she also began volunteering with the West Springfield Lions Club during The Big E.

From 2021-2025, she made jewelry and other products for craft fairs and retail locations as a creative outlet and entrepreneurial venture. In the fall and spring of 2024 and 2025, she worked at Westfield Rehabilitation and Health Center as a Certified Nurse’s Assistant (CNA).

Like Hopkins and Conca, Asselin would like to work in the medical field one day. She hopes to study nursing and specialize in cardiovascular critical care. This decision was inspired by the strength of her aunt and mother, who both navigate life with help from Left Ventricular Assist Devices (LVAD). When both women were diagnosed with their heart diseases, Asselin made the choice to educate herself about helpful routines, medical terminology and otherwise learn and retain all she could to assist. Beyond personal studies, she began to attend medical appointments, memorize important phone numbers and committed emergency procedures to memory.

She hopes to be able to make a tangible change in the lives of others struggling through similar diagnoses, which is why she will be attending Westfield State University in the fall of 2026.

ESE congratulates each of these exemplary students and looks forward to watching them lend their talents to the community in the years to come.

In addition to the ESE Scholarship, the organization annually contributes 1% of its gross annual revenue to the ESE-West Springfield Trust, which provides grant funding for community-based programs and initiatives supporting youth, senior citizens and education. Residents may submit grant applications through the Town of West Springfield’s official website, TownofWestSpringfield.org. Additionally, ESE hosts West Springfield High School’s graduation ceremony at the historic Coliseum each year at no rental cost and offers students of the town free admission to The Big E on West Springfield Day at the Fair through the town’s school systems.