All posts by achellinsky

Rotary Club of Monrovia Announces $22,700 in Scholarships to Local Students

The Rotary Club of Monrovia has announced the winners of the club’s 2012 Academic, Community Service & Vocational Scholarships.  Twenty scholarship winners have been selected and the Rotary Club of Monrovia has allocated an unprecedented $22,700 in total scholarship money this year.  Over 100 scholarship applications were received and interviews held with 36 of those applicants by local Rotarians.  Selection was based upon a combination of GPA, perceived financial need, the applicant’s submitted essay, and their interview skills.  Bill Shieff, Chair for the Rotary Club of Monrovia Scholarship Committee, said about the increased number of scholarships offered this year, “Based on my years of participating in this process, financial need seems much greater this year than in the past.”

This year twelve academic scholarships were awarded to graduating seniors, eight to Monrovia High School students, two to Canyon Oaks students, and two to students from Mountain Park School. The Monrovia High School academic scholarship winners are: Giselle Moreau, Jason Zhang, Abigail Bahena, Corrine Marino, Alanna Koritzke, Nicole Wells, Amanda Samp, and Samantha Maggio. The Canyon Oaks academic scholarship winners are: Paul Caban and Vivian Magallanes.  The Mountain Park academic scholarship winners are: Charlene Hoang and Solana Rose Feldthouse.

This year two service scholarships were awarded to graduating seniors at Monrovia High School.  The service scholarships are awarded to applicants who have demonstrated a commitment to exemplary service in our community.  The Monrovia High School service scholarship winners are: Bryan Martinez and Jamie Truong

This year marks the first time the Rotary Club of Monrovia is partnering with the Monrovia Community Adult School to provide vocational scholarships in addition to the academic and service scholarships offered in past years. The Rotary Club of Monrovia provides 50% the cost of the vocational programs and the Adult School discounts them by 50%, making it a net 0 cost to the recipient (with the exception of books and possibly some fees). This year the Rotary Club of Monrovia is contributing to six vocational scholarships.   According to Flint Fertig, Director of the Monrovia Community Adult School, there are jobs in the community waiting for the skills that these programs deliver.  The vocational scholarship winners are: Sandra Pulido (Medical Assisting), Cindy Duenas (Certified Nursing Assistant), Pedro Avila (Certified Nursing Assistant), Jazmin Madrigal (Certified Nursing Assistant), Maria Alfaro (Pharmacy Tech), Oliver Greeve (Pharmacy Tech).

Congratulations to all the winners!  The Rotary Club of Monrovia is proud to help further the educational and academic advancement of the youth in our community.

Local 11th Graders Chosen for Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) Program

The Rotary Club of Monrovia is proud to announce the selection of Charissa Huntzinger, Annie Laurie Lamb, Sela Rich, Denean Minifield, Amanda Mansoorbakht, Cary Osimo, Warren Chu, Adam Szymkowski, Nathaniel Coleman, and Vartkes (Jesse) Essaian (all 11th grade students at Monrovia High School) as award winners for the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) program. Brianna Duarte and Kenneth Banuelos from Mountain Park/Canyon Oaks High School in Monrovia were also selected as award winners to attend RYLA.

 

RYLA is an intense 3-day seminar organized by the Rotarians of District 5300 of Rotary International.  Once there, the students debate issues of professional responsibility and human relations, work on improving leadership and communications skills, learn about businesses and institutions, and meet Rotarians while having fun and making friends.

 

Each student has many accolades to their credit and was selected after an interview process with current Rotarians.

 

RYLA will take place this year on March 2-4 in Idyllwild, CA. 288 students will be in attendance coming from Southern CA to as far as Nevada. Rotarians from across District 5300 will help facilitate workshops and activities that help foster leadership and problem solving.

 

Students interested in attending in the future (during their Junior year of High School) can learn more at http://www.district5300.org/ryla/

Rotarian Rob Hammond wins Monrovia School Board Election

Congratulations are in order for fellow Rotarian Rob Hammond!

Rob Hammond ran successfully for an open seat on the Monrovia School Board in the local election held Tuesday, November 8.  Incumbents Bryan Wong and Ed Gililland were also reelected to the board.
Congratulations are also in order for Joanne Montgomery (mother of fellow Rotarian Andy Montgomery) who successfully ran as an incumbent for the Citrus College District Board of Trustees in the election held Tuesday.
Congratulations to all the winners and we look forward to more good things happening in Monrovia Schools and in our local Community College!