Rotary Club of Taylor honored the top 10% of graduates from local public schools and awarded its $6,000 Bunnell-Rotary Academic Scholarship Trey Boles at the club’s annual scholars banquet on May 2.
“These local graduates are the foundation for the future of our community,” said Tia Rae Stone, Rotary Club president “Trey stood out after a group of Rotarians read his essay about what the Rotary motto, ‘Service Above Self,’ means to him and hearing his plans for the future during a one-on-one interview last week.”
The Rotary Club of Taylor has recognized the top 10% of the community’s graduating seniors since it created the student loan fund in 1923. This year, the club recognized 24 graduates and gave six other awards at the banquet.
“We are only able to do this because our community has supported the Taylor Rotary Club with its annual fundraisers,” said Stone, “and, of course, because of our dedicated Rotarians who have demonstrated the Rotary motto of ‘Service Above Self’ in Taylor for more than 100 years.”
The Rotary Club of Taylor has recognized the top 10% of the community’s graduating seniors since it created the student loan fund in 1923. This year, the club recognized 24 graduates and gave six other awards at the banquet.
Distinguished Educator (DE) of the Year awards went to Carol Guthrie at Taylor High School and Lloyd Collier at Legacy Early College High School. The DE is voted on by the Rotary Scholars at each campus.
Legacy ECHS graduates Savannah Coy and Christopher Avalos were selected by their teachers to win the Service Awards for their campus. Samantha McIntire and Troy Glenn received the Extracurricular Student Awards at Taylor High.
Taylor Honor Graduate Moppy Miller, class of 1971, extolled the students for having a strong academic foundation, organizational skills and motivation during her keynote address.
“But, I believe something else is also critical in having a successful life,” she said. “It’s about having strong, healthy relationships with others, being positive and, most especially, have the ability and opportunities to laugh.”
Students and their parents were also treated to a first-grade photo of Superintendent Devin Padavil and a senior portrait of Miller.
Rotary Scholars
Honorees were:
• Legacy ECHS: Ryan Abbott, Christopher Avalos, Savannah Coy and Jaston Serfass.
• Taylor HS: Matthew Aplin, Trey Boles, Katherine Buentello Vazquez, Abigail Dittman, Ender Fried, Troy Glenn, Abigail Johnson, Stevie Kaser, Connor Kurtin, Karen Lopez, Samantha McIntire, Stephen Morrison, Karina Nunez-Catano, Lindsay O’Dell, Thomas Oman, Rhett Richardson, Christian Rohlack, Jackson Schroeder, Kiera Van Brocklin and Alexxis Zarate.
About Rotary Club
The Rotary Club of Taylor aims for the idea of “Service Above Self” and works to support projects in Taylor and around the world. Its regular local projects include packing bags at Shepherd’s Heart Food Pantry & Ministries on Wednesday afternoons and running routes for Meals On Wheels every third Thursday.
Rotary International is an international service organization whose stated purpose is to bring together business and professional leaders in order to provide humanitarian service and to advance goodwill and peace around the world. It is a non-political and non-religious organization open to everyone.
