The Marblehead Rotary Club announces its six 2023 scholarship recipients.Yearly, the Marblehead Rotary Club awards four to six students a one-time scholarship and one student with a four-year scholarship for excellence in academics, leadership, community service, and extracurricular activities. Congratulations to the six outstanding awardees: Stella Monaco, Cait Mullins, Teaghan Kay, Yasen Colon, Clair Davis, and Matthew Schricker.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
The Donald Humphreys Veterans Memorial Rotary Scholarship recipient, Stella Monaco, is heading to Boston College in the fall to pursue her interest in finance and economics. This annual scholarship is named after Donald Humphreys, a World War II U.S. Marine Veteran who served in Guadalcanal, South Pacific. As a civilian, he was known as "Mr. Marblehead," a passionate Rotarian, and a great friend to many in our community. Humphreys was so highly regarded as a member of the Marblehead Rotary Club that the board of trustees established a scholarship in his name. The scholarship is awarded to outstanding students with a military family connection to honor Humphreys's military career and legacy. This scholarship award is significant for Monaco, not only in honor of her Uncle Grant, one of the many people she is proud of, but also for whom the scholarship is named. A Marblehead resident, her Uncle "G" was a former U.S. Army officer and combat veteran who served in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom. He was awarded the Naval Presidential Unit Citation for one of his combat missions. Monaco is an excellent student who took many AP classes. She was also the secretary of Interact, a board member of the Student Council, a leader in the Peer Mentor Program, and captain of the varsity soccer and basketball teams. She is a National Honor Society, Math, and Spanish Honor Societies member and received the Excellence in Art Foundation Award. Monaco hopes to continue to apply the same diligence in her studies and to make education and kindness to others her top priorities when she enters college.
The recipient of the four-year Randolph E. and Barbara K. Goodwin Memorial Scholarship, Cait Mullins, will enroll at St. Anselm College in New Hampshire to pursue a career in law. She plans to explore the humanities and pre-law. Teachers and friends described her as spirited and fiercely independent. Mullins is an exceptional athlete who was on the varsity soccer team. She also played softball, field hockey, and winter track. She has received various athletics awards from multiple outlets: Salem News, Lynn Evening, Northeast Conference (NEC), and the Boston Globe Scholastic All-Star. She enthusiastically studied and worked part-time while also volunteering. Mullin's nominee for the St. Michael's College Book Award for Academic Achievement & Social Conscience described her as someone with a "commitment to social justice and leadership ability throughout high school, and is caring to those around her."
Teaghan Kay is heading to San Diego State University to pursue a degree in kinesiology. A member of the National Honor Society and the National Art Honors Society, Kay has excelled academically while balancing her passion for sports and community-based activities. She played four years for the high school volleyball club and received the Regional Silver Key from the Boston Scholastic Art and Writing Awards. Her school advisor described her as having "a level of maturity and kindness" reflected in the many after-school activities she was engaged in. Kay came from a family in which community work was the norm. In addition to working part-time after school, Kay volunteered with the Special Olympics as a ski instructor and mentor for children and adults with disabilities, and she worked in soup kitchens, and for Meals on Wheels, the Red Cross Food Pantry Drive, the public garden restoration project, and community development.
The Marblehead High School valedictorian for the Class of 2023, Yasen Colon, plans to enter Purdue University to study aerospace engineering. Colon has been pursuing his goal in aviation since he turned 14 and became enamored with the wonder of flight. Colon has since earned a private pilot license and is considering flying professionally after college. As a future aerospace engineer, he hopes to contribute to expanding the science of aviation to unimaginable heights. He has been fully engaged in high school life as president of the Marblehead National Honor Society, the captain of the Math Team, a member of Jewel Tones, and a student representative for the Marblehead School Committee. Colon also assisted seniors in tech literacy at the Council on Aging and contributed 500+ hours of community service.
Claire Davis will be heading to Wooster College in Ohio, seeking a liberal arts education to immerse herself in diverse cultures as she wishes to improve the world. One teacher has described her as a "diligent student with a positive attitude and determination." She has been on the high honor roll several times. She has been awarded Excellence in World Cultures, mathematics, and wellness. She is a proud member of the National Honor Society, the Jefferson Forum Community Service Club, and the Animal Wellness Club. And she was selected as the Marblehead High School track team captain. Her volunteering includes cooking meals at Lifebridge homeless shelter and assisting at the New England Equine Rescue.
Matthew Schricker plans to major in a five-year residential architecture program at Penn State University this fall. He is an honor roll student who has been described as having an innate "desire and willingness to help others thrive"—a quality he displays in the Peer Mentoring Program, where he serves in a core leadership position in a program that has given him the most satisfaction. Hardworking, Schricker has been working at a local restaurant to learn the "responsibility of balancing school and a part-time job." In addition, he belongs to Best Buddies, the Sports Debate Club, and the Intramural Basketball League. He cherishes the relationships he has built working with seniors.
If you're interested in becoming involved with the Marblehead Rotary Club and various community-based initiatives, please join us at any of our meetings on Thursdays at 12:15 p.m. at the Boston Yacht Club. For more information about the club or membership, please email the newly appointed club's secretary, Nancy Gwin, at: gwinnancy@gmail.com or visit marbleheadrotary.com
(From left to right, front row) Scholarship recipients: Stella Monaco, Matt Schricker, Claire Davis, Cait Mullins, and Yasen Colon. Not in the picture, Teaghan Kay. (Back row) Rotarians Ed Nilsson, Brian Snell, co-presidents Nancy Gwin, and Blair Lord.