Drum Roll Please
The Aaron Opon Memorial Scholarship Fund is pleased to announce the winners of the 2026 Scholarships!
Bella Schwartz and Lukas Kolcz
Bella and Lukas each will receive $1500 that goes directly to supporting the cost of their lessons and show performances. In addition, each will receive $250 to be used for their musical equipment needs.
The Aaron Opon Memorial Fund is honored to be able to support Bella and Lukas and look forward to watching them on their musical journey.
We wish to thank our scholarship committee and all those who applied. The selection process was highly competitive and although we could only award two scholarships, we encourage those who applied and others to look for future opportunities through the Aaron Opon Memorial Fund.
Lastly, Kathleen, Chris and I want to express our deep gratitude everyone who supported the Aaron Opon Memorial Fund through monetary contributions, donations to the silent auction, countless hours of their time and to the dedicated musicians and friends of Aaron who generously gave their talents at our Kickoff Event in January. Thank you all.
Bella Schwartz
Bella is a drummer and vocalist at the School of Rock Geneva who said this about her experience at SOR, "Music has been my voice for when I can't speak for myself. Music has given me a community that I feel like I actually belong to. At School of Rock the moment I stepped in there I knew that place was my second home. I belong with music and School of Rock helps me know I have nothing to worry about except my favorite thing in the world. The scholarship would make sure that I'm surrounded by the people who care and I'm surrounded by positive love."
Lukas Kolcz
Lukas is a drummer studying at the School of Rock Plainfield. Lukas says this about music and SOR. "Going to School of Rock for a long time makes me feel welcome. I love music because it makes me feel calm, happy, and amazed at how artists create songs. When I play the drums, it feels so cool that I can do this at my age. This scholarship would mean a lot to me. It would help me get new cymbals because mine are starting to crack."
The Aaron Opon Memorial Scholarship
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Aaron worked at the Plainfield School of Rock for 6 years and was very committed to his students. This Scholarship is designed to help talented students of the school to afford not only tuition, but supplies they may need for their studies. At this time only Plainfield School of Rock students are eligible, but we hope to expand eligibility in the future.
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Active students of Plainfield School of Rock, Rock 101 and Performance programs, ages 7 - 18.
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We will be awarding two $1500 Scholarships with an additional $250 stipend for equipment.
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Please complete the application, available here:
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You should receive an acknowledgement that your application was submitted.
After submission your application will go through an independent review process.
Application deadline is May 31
Applications will be reviewed by the Scholarship Committee in June and July
Winners will be announced in August (details in development)
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Spreading the word is a huge help. This enables eligible students to find their way here.
You can also donate to the fund. This will enable us to offer these scholarships every year.
Donate here:
On March 23, 2026, The Aaron Opon Memorial Fund will start accepting applications for the first Aaron Opon Memorial Fund Scholarship! At this time the Scholarship only accepts applications from students of The Plainfield School of Rock. In the future we hope to be able to offer the scholarship to students of other music programs. All the details are here, including the link to apply. Please email us at aaronoponmemorial@gmail.com with any questions.
Application deadline is May 31, 2026. Scholarships will be announced in August of 2026.
Best of luck on your musical journeys!