President Elect Rob Olmstead, started the meeting at 12:00 and welcomed the students, parents, educators and Rotarians to Annual Rotary Scholarship Lunch. Rob noted that sometimes it doesn't pay to answer your phone, like this morning, when he got the call that the President, Patrick O'Neil, letting him know that he wasn't going to be able to make the meeting.   He asked Matt Ross to lead the pledge to our nation’s flag proudly displayed at the front of the room.  Mike Grace gave the blessing.

 

John Gabriel took advantage of the time between the start of the meeting and the delivery of the lunches to explain the agenda for the rest of the meeting and gave a brief history of the scholarship program.  The scholarship program was started in 1987.  There have been approximately 114 students awarded scholarships.  Every year three students are selected and then they report into the club every year until they graduate.  In the early 1980's the club was giving scholarships to college students and we never heard back from them.  John was a middle school principal at Carnegie and then Arcade for fifteen years.  He loved all the middle school students except for a few of the eighth-graders because we know how some of them can be.  They always get ignored.  They thought it would be nice to recognize the eighth graders and bring them back every year to hear how they are doing.  It was a great way to showcase the kids that are not getting into trouble and are doing things right.  Each year three eighth grade middle school students are selected by their school principal to receive the scholarship.  Every year their account is credited with $250 until their senior year when it is credited with $500.  A check for $1,500 is presented to them at the scholarship lunch during their senior year. 

 

The scholarship program began with the presentation of checks to the senior scholarship recipients after each updated their senior year activities. The program continues, class by class, as each student shared their academic and social accomplishments for the past year.   Every year, student after student shares their 4.+++ gpa's, their numerous sports and civic activities, shaming the majority of the Rotarians in the room as they remember all the things they did and didn't do in high school.