A St. Benedict’s Prep senior from Kearny is one of two named a QuestBridge Scholar, a scholarship that matches high-achieving students from low-income backgrounds with 55 top colleges and universities in the U.S.
Sebastian Tenorio ’26, of Kearny, matched with the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. He will major in business and is preparing for a career in finance. Kayani Jegatheeswaran, of Newark, also received the scholarship. She will attend Smith College in Massachusetts in the fall.
This is the fifth-consecutive year St. Benedict’s seniors have been awarded full, four-year scholarships through QuestBridge National College Match; 17 Gray Bees have received the scholarship since 2021.
“St. Benedict’s instills leadership onto us,” Tenorio said. “It makes us more independent, so we can seek out these amazing opportunities and take ownership of them.”
A member of the Boys Prep Division, Tenorio completed college courses in engineering and calculus at the New Jersey Institute of Technology through a dual enrollment program available to St. Benedict’s students. He served as a fellow in the School’s Fr. Mark Payne Institute and is a member of the National Honor Society.
More than 25,000 high school seniors applied for the QuestBridge National College Match in 2025.
Around 7,000 students were selected as finalists; 2,550 seniors ultimately matched with QuestBridge college partners. The program was established in 1994 to provide a pathway for high-achieving students to attend top colleges, regardless of financial background. Match recipients receive early admission and a scholarship covering the full cost of attendance, including tuition, housing, food, books, supplies and travel expenses.
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Kevin A. Canessa Jr. is the editor of and broadcaster at The Observer, an organization he has served since 2006. He is responsible for the editorial content of the newspaper and website, the production of the e-Newspaper, writing several stories per week (including the weekly editorial), conducting live broadcasts on social media channels such as YouTube, Facebook, and X, including a weekly recap of the news — and much more behind the scenes. Between 2006 and 2008, he introduced the newspaper to its first-ever blog — which included podcasts, audio and video. Originally from Jersey City, Kevin lived in Kearny until 2004, lived in Port St. Lucie. Florida, for four years until February 2016 and in March of that year, he moved back to Kearny to return to The Observer full time. Click Here to send Kevin an email.