This year’s scholarship recipients include Molly Kessler, Brian Contreras, Natalie Ciccone, Emily Cheshire, Catherine Jamison, Christopher Mavrogian, Isabella Thompson and Margaret Imperato.
Rotary Club officials Ford Spilsbury and Robert Bishop announced the awards and spoke about the honorees during this year’s virtual senior academic awards ceremony. The event was held online for the first time ever due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Huntington Rotary Club was founded in 1925. It is a chapter of Rotary International, a 1.2 million member worldwide service organization.
The Huntington Rotary Club has awarded scholarships to spectacular Huntington High School seniors since the 1930s. This year’s recipients are held in high regard by members of the school’s administration and faculty as well as by their classmates.
Ms. Kessler and Mr. Contreras captured the largest of any of the scholarships at $3,500 each. Ms. Kessler intends to study human development, community studies and international development at Clark University. Mr. Contreras will be studying mechanical engineering at Binghamton University.
Ms. Ciccone, Ms. Cheshire and Ms. Imperato all garnered Rotary Club scholarships valued at $2,000 each. Ms. Ciccone intends to study nursing at the University of Rhode Island. Ms. Cheshire will be studying behavioral neuroscience at Lehigh University. She hopes to later attend medical school to prepare for a career as a psychiatrist. Ms. Imperato will be attending Utica College to prepare for a career as a social studies teacher.
Ms. Jamison, Ms. Thompson and Mr. Mavrogian all garnered $1,000 awards. Ms. Jamison intends to major in markets, innovation and design and minor in English and art entrepreneurship at Bucknell University. Ms. Thompson plans to prepare for a career as a social worker at the University of New Hampshire. Mr. Mavrogian plans to study music education and performance in SUNY College at Potsdam’s famed Crane School of Music in preparation for a career as a music teacher.
All eight Rotary Club scholarship recipients have performed substantial amounts of community service and assumed leadership positions in various student organizations.
Messrs. Spilsbury and Bishop encouraged the honorees to keep the Rotary Club up to date on their educational pursuits and career progress.