There were a lot of new smiling faces at the Santa Monica Rotary meeting last Friday, and they belonged to the Rotarian scholarship recipients and their proud parents.
The 14 students from three middles schools, four high schools, and Santa Monica College were rewarded for their excellence in academics, leadership, and community service.
Jessie Ramirez, a former LA Tax Associates scholarship winner and Santa Monica College student, began the award ceremony.
“Looking back, I never imagined that I would get into USC and receive an acceptance letter from UCLA,” Ramirez said. “I made the decision to come to Santa Monica College and it opened a lot of doors for me.
I am very thankful for the Santa Monica community as a whole and everything that was presented to me here by the LA Tax Associates. I wouldn’t be here without their help, with the cost that it takes to be at USC.”
“I hope that all the recipients of the scholarships here tonight go on to bigger and better things.And thank you very much for every ones assistance,” Ramirez said, finishing his speech.
The scholarship award winners from Santa Monica College included Jessica Soegono and Ali Khan (Archie Morrison Scholarship for $750), Haley Coleman (Nick Holt Scholarship for $1,000), and Dabiel Kolko (LA Tax Associates Scholarship for $1,500).
The high school award winners included Jessica Bonilla (Russel Hart Scholarship for $1,000), Abigail Wisen (Clyde Smith Scholarship for $1,000), and Cynthia Cristobal (Russel Hart Scholarship for $1,000) from Santa Monica High; Jhonton Aragon (Tom Fox Scholarship for $1,000) from St. Monica High School; Maia Joseph (John English Scholarship for $1,000) from Olympic High School; and Shaila Hernandez (Harding Larmore, Kozal and Kutcher for $1,000) from New Roads High School.
The middle school winners included Soah Frankli (Citizenship Award for $100) from Cross Roads Middle School, Yabsra Ayele (Citizenship Award $100) from Lincoln Middle School, and Melissa Pflug (Citizenship Award for $100) from New Roads Middle School.
Announcements
The Santa Monica Rotary board has decided to give $2,000 to a general fund for Nepal earthquake relief.
There has been a website built by a Rotarian called wavebagfee.com, where you can send emails to airlines who are charging bag fees of $126 per-bag for doctors and other people flying supplies to Nepal. On the website you can also donate money to help pay those bag fees.
Pei and Marina Hanai were introduced as the newest Rotarian members.
