The Rotary Club of Ventura recently announced the winners of the second year of its Perspectives on Peace Scholarship program. Five high school seniors are being awarded a total of $10,000 in scholarships, based on their outstanding original art submissions around the theme of “Perspectives on Peace.”
“There are several other very good scholarship programs for Ventura’s high school seniors based on academic achievement or financial needs”, said Connie Young, current Rotary Club of Ventura president. “So, when we started this scholarship program last year, we sought to recognize and support the strong creativity and artistic talents of Ventura’s youth while encouraging self-reflection on a very important topic. These bright minds represent our collective future and what they accomplished represents incredible inspiration and hope.”
“The scholarship program’s theme of ‘Perspectives on Peace’ was chosen both because we were quite curious to learn what high schoolers today feel about the concept of peace, and because Rotary International has recently made promoting peace one of the focal purposes of the organization worldwide”, reports Staci Johnson, Rotary Club of Ventura member and co-chair of the scholarship effort. “Rotary, of course, has always been about peacebuilding but only recently started to really codify what that means both in our local communities and around the world. So, whether we’re serving local disadvantaged kids by providing a warm jacket or a backpack and school supplies – or we’re helping to support a skill-training center for vulnerable young girls in rural Zambia – we are in fact promoting peace.”
The Perspectives on Peace Scholarship received 35 entries of original artwork from high school seniors representing Buena, Foothill Tech, Ventura, and El Camino high schools. The submissions included paintings, drawings, mixed media, needlework, woodwork, photography, video and song. Ten judges reviewed each applicant’s artistic rendering of their personal perspective on peace along with their recommendation from teachers, guidance counselors, or mentors. “The creativity of these young adults is truly inspiring,” said Johnson, “and the judging process was a difficult one.”
The winners of the Rotary Club of Ventura 2020 Perspectives on Peace Scholarship are:
1st prize $5,000 scholarship: Meghan Carter (Foothill Tech High School)
2nd prize $2,500 scholarship: Sedrik Dedman (Buena High School)
3rd prize $1,500 scholarship: Audrey Abbe (Foothill Tech High School)
Honorable mention $500: Yalda Kotobi (Ventura High School)
Honorable mention $500: Lindsey Johnston (Buena High School)
Due to Covid-19, a planned April exhibition for the winners and entrants within a larger Ventura Unified School District (VUSD) Art Showcase at the Ventura County Museum was cancelled. However, the scholarship recipients were celebrated at a recent “virtual meeting” of the Rotary Club of Ventura, where they presented their winning pieces and shared their motivations for creating it. Also, in attendance was Dr. Roger Rice, VUSD Superintendent, Greg Bayless, Director of Secondary Curriculum & Instruction, and several high school art teachers and career counselors, and Savi Bhim, Rotary 5240 District Governor, who gave an inspirational talk. The video highlights of this meeting can be viewed here.
To view and experience the Rotary Club of Ventura 2020 Perspectives on Peace Scholarship winners, please visit the full digital presentation, here: http://perspectivesonpeace.org/2020-winners/
“It is deeply moving to see the talent and artistic visions of these high school seniors and to help support them on their journey to higher education – and I’m proud to say that the Rotary Club of Ventura has committed to doing this scholarship program next year as well”, reports Young. “We’ve been putting ‘Service Above Self’ right here in Ventura for over 100 years now. Today, while we recognize our Club’s past, it’s our next 100 years that we’re most excited about.”