At our meeting on May 23, the Rotary Club of Parker awarded a total of $10,000 in scholarships to students from two Parker high schools: Ponderosa and Chaparral.
Here are the scholarship recipients and their supporters from Chaparral High School. Rotarians Tom Furmanski and Dennis Brewster are on the far left and right respectively:
Here are the scholarship recipients and their supporters from Ponderosa High School. Rotarians Tom Furmanski and Jim Muir are on the left:
Scholarship applications were evaluated based on five criteria: community service/citizenship, extra-curricular activities, GPA, financial need and an essay on the Rotary motto of “Service Above Self.”
Congratulations to this year’s recipients:
Ponderosa High School. The awards for students from Ponderosa were presented by Rotarian Jim Muir, who serves as the liaison between the Rotary Club of Parker and the school. Ponderosa High School was represented at the awards presentation by Tim Ottmann, Principal and Erin Williams, Counselor.
Sarah Gates. At Ponderosa, Sarah has served with Student Council and the Link Crew, as well as founding the Yoga Club. Sarah has served the Parker community through her involvement with Teen Court (four years) and the Parker Task Force. She also volunteers extensively at her church, including teaching young children. She is a National Merit Scholar. Sarah plans to major in engineering at the University of Oklahoma.
Austin Porros. Austin has participated in student government as well as serving on the Student Advisory Committee for the Douglas County School District for three years. He played tennis all four years at Ponderosa as well as serving as a manager of the girls’ tennis team. Austin’s Eagle Scout project was building benches at the Ponderosa football field. He participated internationally with Believe in Haiti and Humanitarian Experience for Youth (Africa). Austin plans to study psychology or neuroscience.
Brooklyn Pustari. Brooklyn has been active with FCCLA (Family, Community and Career Leaders) throughout her high school years; most recently she served on the state executive council, managing Colorado’s 3200 FCCLA members. She has volunteered with the Special Olympics for five years, coaching a local soccer team. She has received an academic letter all four years of high school. Brooklyn plans to attend the University of Northern Colorado to become an elementary school teacher.Chaparral High School. The awards for Chaparral were presented by Rotarian Dennis Brewster, who oversees the Student of the Month award for Chaparral. Chaparral High School was represented by Mary Jo Pook (College and Career Center Coordinator) and Karen Ford (STAR Lab Coordinator).
Noah Gerwinat. Noah served the Chaparral community in student government, as part of the Red Blue Crew, and as an officer of DECA. He was a Co-Project Manager at Chaparral for Make-a-Wish Colorado, calling on over 100 local businesses for support. Noah participated in track and field while also lettering in academics all four years of high school. Noah plans to study business at the University of Arizona.
Sydney Tyler. Sydney has volunteered at Sky Ridge Hospital. She also served in student government and worked with special needs athletes. She has been an academic letter recipient all four years of high school while being on the cheerleading squad, serving as the varsity captain this year. Sydney plans to attend the University of Missouri to study nursing.
Belinda Wise. Belinda has been an active participant in the Rotary Interact Club at Chaparral and is currently serving on the team of officers. She has also served the Chaparral community as a writing tutor and as a member of Link crew, while being on the honor roll throughout high school. Belinda plans to study psychology at Brigham Young University.
The club also awarded one Vocational/Trade scholarship to Lucas Hernán of Chaparral High School. Lucas has been active in theater at Chaparral and has served the Chaparral community through his involvement with the Rotary Interact Club. He has served the Parker community through several years of volunteering for the Parker Task Force. In the fall, Lucas will be attending the Food Service program at Eastern New Mexico University—Roswell.
And finally, Rotarian Peggy Carter presented the club's Four-Way Test Scholarship to Emma Yanez. The applicants for this scholarship are asked to solve one of four provided dilemmas using Rotary's Four Way Test: Is it the truth? Is it fair to all concerned? Will it build goodwill and better friendships? Will it be beneficial to all? Emma is a graduate of Chaparral High School. While she was there she was involved with Link Crew, National Honor Society, Spanish Honor society and Writing Tutors. She plans on continuing her education at CU Boulder and majoring in speech and Language Pathology with a minor in Spanish.
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