ROTARY College Scholarships

Rotary Club of Big Bear Lake 2014 College Scholarship Winners

The Rotary Club of Big Bear Lake annually provides college scholarships to deserving high school seniors.  This year the Club is awarding a total of $9000 in six separate scholarships of $1500 each.  The annual scholarships are presented at the high school awards night in June at the PAC.  In addition to these annual scholarships, Rotary also sponsors several $1000 endowed scholarships through the Mihaylo Foundation. 

Those scholarships are awarded at the Mihaylo ceremony, also in June.  The Rotary Interact Club also awards scholarships to its deserving members.  The Rotary Club also annually donates a $1000 scholarship to Chautauqua High School.  The Rotary Club of Big Bear Lake is one of the largest scholarship donor organizations in the Big Bear Valley.  The Club values the education of our students and is glad to provide these scholarships to deserving students.

The Rotary Club has just announced its 2014 annual College Scholarship winners.  The students are recognized for the academic achievement, student government, sports, clubs, fine arts, outside work and for their community service during their high school careers.  Rotary places great emphasis on community service and volunteerism, since the Club’s motto is “Service above Self”. 

The Rotary Club received a total of 22 applicants this year from a class of about 210 students.  Applications were reviewed by a Committee of Rotary members, who then made the selections in each category.  Committee Chair Dave Caretto stated,  “there were many qualified and deserving students; we only wish we had more funds to distribute.  The quality of our high school students is outstanding, and this is a tribute not only to the students themselves but also to their parents, their teachers and their high school.”  

The scholarship winners will be introduced at the annual Rotary Eagle of Excellence Community Service Awards and Dinner on June 8, 2014 at the Bear Creek Resort Events Tent. 

Rotary Scholarships are typically presented after the end of the student’s freshman year in college.  Each student is asked to attend a Rotary meeting to discuss their first year, the major they selected, any interesting classes, and their experiences during college.  This gives Rotary members a chance to meet the students up close and to be sure that they are making progress toward their chosen degree/vocation.  The Club then presents them with a check for the full scholarship amount.

Rotary Scholarship Winners for 2014 are as follows:

Bob Wood Memorial Scholarship (with emphasis on majors in Communications and Journalism)--Constance Button

John Voss Memorial Scholarship (for students pursuing vocational school or university)--Danny Zepeda

Academic Scholarships (for students with high academic achievement and community service)--Jacob Carson, Delaney Warren, Ryan Florence, Austin Saderup

The Rotary Club of Big Bear Lake congratulates all of the student applicants and award winners and wishes them well as they leave the Big Bear Valley for various colleges and vocational schools.  We hope that they will someday return to the Big Bear Valley to help this community grow and prosper.