Rotary Awards Recognize Exceptional Students

(Crystal A. Proxmire, 5/11/2011)

Six students from Ferndale High School and another six from University High were honored at a Rotary Educational Achievement Award on May 10, 2001, with three of those students receiving a $2,000 scholarship towards college.

Natalie Melnick and Paige Pfleger of FHS and Jessica Millender of UHS each left with an extra big smile and a financial reward that will help them as they move from Ferndale onto college life.

Pfleger is an active student.  She is the Editor in Chief of the school newspaper, a member of the marching band, a member of National Honor Society and a regular in student musicals.  She said winning the scholarship was “very nice,” and “a real honor.” The scholarship will come in handy as she goes on to the University of Michigan to study journalism.

Millender, who will also be going to U of M,  smiled as she remembered the Rotary Scholarship Committee’s casual, but direct, interviewing style.  “They were so nice,” she said.  She chuckled as she remembered her interview with the Rotarians.  “Very friendly, like they were just making conversation, but you could tell they were being undercover.  They were getting the information they needed.”  The outgoing UHS senior is the President of National Honor Society, Valedictorian of her class, and she sits on the Board of DECCA – a program designed to encourage business leadership and entrepreneurial spirit.  She is not sure what her major will be, but she hopes to help people.

Melnick is another excellent student.  “I am going to Kalamazoo College in the fall, and plan to study pre-med to become a physician’s assistant,” she said. “I want to study abroad and eventually be able to bring health care to less fortunate countries, and also work in the ER/clinics locally.”  She is the class Vice President, colorguard captain of the State Champion Marching Band, and is involved in student government, theater, orchestra, and soccer.

All of the honored students were treated to a beautiful dinner and awards ceremony at Blumz Floral at 503 E. 9 Mile, along with their families.  “Being here this evening is an achievement in itself,” said Rotary member and Blumz owner Jerome Raska.  Over 30 young people from the Ferndale School District applied for the scholarship, and the committee had a hard time narrowing it down to a manageable dozen to interview and recognize.

Earl Sparkman and Rotary President Amy Roll sat with Raska for the interview process.  “This is a really special night,” Sparkman said.  “These kids are the best hope that our future has.” Criteria for the award included having a 3.0 or better grade point average, strong community service, and attending a Michigan college.

“We interviewed each kid with casual conversation about that their involvement was outside of school and what their intentions were,” Roll said. “What is their goal?  How will they give back?”  She explained that rather than simply accepting applications and mailing a check, in the past two years Ferndale Rotary has focused on building a relationship with the students and encouraging them to give back.  “Each scholarship winner gives back by donating ten hours of community service back to the club, and we ask them to come back after a semester of school and give us an update about how it is going.”

Rotary International is a service-based organization with over 1.2 million members worldwide, and 32,000 clubs.  The Ferndale Rotary meets on Thursdays at 5:30pm at Blumz. The group works on projects that give back to the community, including donating helmets to kids for the Bike Rodeo, donating DNA kits to the police, giving quilts to local vets, and more.

The beautiful dinner and awards program honored all the students who made it to the final round of the scholarship competition.  Congratulations to the following students who were also recognized:

 

Ferndale High School:

Joseph Ashmore

Meredith Edwards

Danyale Thompson

Arturo Vidales-Woods

 

University High School:

Ashlee Bradford

Alexis Jordan

Allante Steele

Deja Sylvester

Carmen Vance

To find our more about Ferndale Rotary, go to http://www.ferndale-mi.com/community/RotaryClub.htm.  To read previous Ferndale 115 stories about Rotary, go to http://oaklandcounty115.com/category/rotary/.