After many years of awarding selected high school students with a college loan, the Aiken Rotary Club began offering scholarships to students in 2006.
Each of seven students received a $2,500 grant at a Monday meeting. They are Jada Albertson and Danielle Vermilye, South Aiken High School; Ernesto Barquet, South Aiken Baptist Christian School; Adam McFall and John Platte, home school; and Leanne Summer and Sophie Nance, Aiken High School.
With the rising cost of tuition, they need this help, and they're grateful for it, said Barbara Morgan, the club president. Club members began focusing on education assistance in 1948.
"We want you to understand what we've done for a long time and how important it is to us today," Morgan said. The club added a seventh award this year, thanks to the generosity of a member.
These students will be here in the future to lead the community, the state and the nation, said club member Betty Ryberg. A committee of Rotary members selected the winners from many applicants - none of them identified throughout the process. Ryberg and others in the group were impressed by the students' comments.
"One thing all of you did really impressed us," Ryberg said. The high school seniors described their accomplishments, such as becoming an Eagle Scout, volunteering in the community and tutoring younger students.
Albertson is heading to the University of South Carolina as an engineering major. Barquet plans to major in pre-medicine at Wofford College. McFall will attend USC Aiken as a biology major, possibly moving toward a career as a wildlife biologist. Also planning to major in biology, Nance will start at Clemson University in the fall.
Three years ago, home-school students received formal permission to play sports in public schools. Since then, Platte has been involved in sports at South Aiken. He has been selected to the North-South All-Star soccer game. He will play at Belmont-Abbey College in Charlotte, North Carolina, where he plans to work toward a medical degree. Summer plans to attend the University of North Carolina and pursue a pharmacy career. With the goal of becoming an elementary school teacher, Vermilye will enroll at Aiken Technical College then go on to USCA.
Senior writer Rob Novit is the Aiken Standard's education reporter.
and has been with the newspaper since September 2001. He is a native of Walterboro and majored in journalism at the University of Georgia.