2020 Scholarship Awards
Pat Ettensohn and Pat Rutledge
Scholarship Committee Chair and Co-Chair
Due the Coronavirus, the selection process for the Noontime Rotary Club Scholarships looked very different this year. On May 8th Pat Ettensohn, Chair of the Committee, moderated a meeting to review this year’s applications. The reviewers of the applications were George Abounader, Durell Buzzini, Tom Menaker, Jim Richards and Pat Rutledge. A special thank you to Gene D’Onofrio for taking the time to scan all of the application documents and transmit them electronically to the reviewers.
Fifteen applications in all were received: two from St. John Neumann; three from Lely High School; and ten from Marco Island Academy. Through discussion and weighing pluses and minuses, several students began to rise to the top.
Financial need was a key area of focus; academics, voluntarism and extracurricular activities were also considered.
The final choices agreed upon by all the reviewers were as follows:
Jasmine Saldana – Lely High School – Four Year Scholarship ($12,000)
Bekzodjon Rahmonov – Marco Island Academy – Four Year Scholarship ($12,000)
Mason Iaconelli – Lely High School – Freshman Grant ($3,000)
Jenna Palumbo – Marco Island Academy – Freshman Grant ($3,000)
Members of the committee agree that the decisions were difficult with many deserving students having applied.