WELLS – The Tramuto Foundation, a non-profit organization founded in 2001 by Ogunquit resident Donato Tramuto, has granted a four-year scholarship to an outstanding member of the Wells High School Class of 2019.

Matthew Chase, who graduated from Wells High School Class on June 9th, received the Tramuto Foundation Scholarship award at the June 6^th Scholarship Awards Night. Chase is planning to attend Florida Gulf Coast University where he will major in clinical lab science.

Each year the Tramuto Foundation provides scholarships to a senior class member at Bangor High School and Wells High School who have succeeded in the face of adversity to achieve personal excellence. Students are chosen based on their ability, efforts and the determination they have shown to contend with or overcome the challenges they have faced. Scholarship, community service, school activities, character, leadership qualities and demonstrated financial need are also considered.

Sofia Wittmann of Bangor, who co-founded Steps for Souls, a suicide prevention and awareness fundraising event at Bangor High School, was awarded the Tramuto Foundation Scholarship on May 15^th.

“I was very impressed with the quality of every student at Wells High School who applied for this scholarship,” Foundation Chairman Tramuto said. “However, Matthew is clearly someone who has faced incredible adversity in his young life, but also received the strong support and encouragement of his family, friends and teachers that allowed him to succeed beyond anyone’s expectation.

“For someone who was nonverbal as a young child, as I was during my adolescence, Matthew has already achieved beyond everyone’s expectations. He is a great example of someone converting ‘life’s bulldozer moments’ into a path toward great personal and professional success,” Tramuto added, referring to the book he published in 2016, Life’s Bulldozer Moments, How Adversity Can Lead to Success in Life and Business.

At the age of two, Matthew was diagnosed with autism, making it much more difficult for him to learn the skills that came naturally to children his age. He attended a therapeutic preschool until he was five years old and in elementary school he needed a helper to remain focused and safe. Even today, Matthew said he still is easily distracted, although he developed various strategies to keep himself focused on the task at hand. 

Matthew, who graduated fourth in his class and is a member of the National Honor Society, excelled in French and Spanish and taught himself a number of other foreign languages. In the eighth grade he won the Maine State Geography Bee and went on to compete on the national level.  Matthew said he has a talent for facts and figures and can easily remember dates and details of events in his life. “Also, my optimistic attitude helps me persevere through challenges and gives me a positive outlook on life,” Matthew wrote in his scholarship application form.  In his senior year at WHS, Matthew’s classmates voted him the boy “most likely to succeed.”

In addition to his academic achievements, Matthew was a member of the WHS cross country and outdoor track and field teams and is an accomplished pianist. Once he finishes college, Matthew hopes to use his knowledge of biology and chemistry to help doctors diagnose and treat certain medical conditions. He will also minor in Spanish, in order to help people through medical research and language translation. 

Matthew is the son of Matthew and Sophia Chase of Wells.