Congratulations Telluride Rotary Scholarship Recipients
Congratulations Class of 2024!Telluride Rotary is pleased to announce college scholarships awarded to seniors from Telluride High. These scholarships are made possible through the generosity of donors to Telluride Rotary, and thanks to a dedicated Scholarship Committee led by Karen Lavender that reviewed more than 30 applications to determine these recipients. The committee took many factors into account, including financial need, community service, academic achievement, and a direction toward doing good in their community and beyond after graduation. Our club raised $11,500 to be awarded this year. The funds will go directly to each student’s college to offset tuition.
All five of these students have exceptional qualifications and compelling life experiences.
Our club’s largest scholarship, for $5000, was awarded to Cheska Hrupcin (pictured at left), who will attend Boston University in the fall to study Entomology, Ecology, and Evolutionary Biology.
Our two scholarships for $2500 each went to Aizy Alvarez Lescano and Selma Tutt-Pyk. Both are first-generation college-bound students. Aizy will attend Colorado Mesa University to study Nursing. Selma will attend Colorado College to study Psychology.
An anonymous Rotarian started a scholarship this year called the Rotary Endeavor Scholarship for $1000, to support a student in a vocational or trade study, who shows a strong desire to accomplish their training to completion. As with the college scholarships above, this one is need-based. The inaugural Rotary Endeavor Scholarship goes to Kerry Hauze. Kerry has a passion for mechanics and will attend CMU Tech (a branch of Colorado Mesa University) where he will earn an Associate’s Degree in Diesel Technology so he can become a high performance mechanic.
Finally, Telluride Rotary’s annual John Micetic Athletic Award recognizes an outstanding athlete with a $500 scholarship. This year’s Micetic Athletic Award goes to Brady Holbrook, a multi-sport athlete with a passion for hockey, who will study at the University of Virginia’s undergraduate business school. See this Instagram post for photos of all our scholarship recipients.
Additionally, we presented a very special high school student with the Telluride Rotary Service Above Self Award, which recognizes a Telluride High School senior for outstanding community service and concern for others. Congratulations to this year's recipient, Avery Ireland! Avery (pictured below), who will attend Northern Arizona University, is a go-getter involved in many clubs and projects at the high school. A plaque hangs in Telluride High’s front office with the names of our Service Above Self recipients. She also receives a $250 cash prize from our club.
Could you make a difference in a high school student’s life by making a tax-deductible donation to the Telluride Rotary Foundation for scholarships? In addition to giving through our Donate Now button, you may mail a check made out to Telluride Rotary Foundation with "scholarships" in the memo line and mail to PO Box 1265, Telluride, CO 81435. Or you may donate through Venmo @T-ride_Rotary_Foundation and indicate “scholarships” with the payment.
You may be wondering, is Rotary Youth Exchange happening? Telluride Rotary Club has a long tradition of hosting high school students from other countries, and sending local students to study abroad. Because of the Covid-19 global pandemic, however, no Rotary clubs have been able to host or send exchange students since spring of 2020. The program will resume for the 2022-23 school year, and applications for the program are being accepted now through December 2021. For complete info for high school students applying to the program, or for potential host families, visit 
Last June 21, our club celebrated the start of a new Rotary year, and President Roger Young passed the torch to 2023-24 Club President Kaitlyn James. 
In the Rotary year of 2022-23, our club's main International project involved supporting a daycare center in Slovakia, near the Ukraine border, that is dedicated to helping children and their mothers who are Ukrainian war refugees. We donated $4000 to help grow the small but impactful Radost Center for Mothers and Children in Kosice, Slovakia.