Pelham Rotary honors scholarship winners for 2015-2018

Left to right, are Jordan Salama (2015 winner), Thomas Horowitz (2017 winner), William Shelton (2018 winner), Clara Choate, (2016 winner), Rotarian Ellis Moore Jr. and Rotary President Lyn Roth-Jacobs.

Editor’s note: This press release was provided by the Rotary Club of the Pelhams.

Pelham, NY – Winners of the annual $10,000 scholarship awarded by Rotary Club of the Pelhams in 2015, 2016, 2017 & 2018 were honored at Rotary luncheons on Aug 15 and Aug. 22.

Jordan Salama, 2015 Rotary Scholarship winner, will be a senior at Princeton University. He told Rotarians on Aug. 22 that he will be working on his senior thesis in Colombia in South America for the next two weeks. He will continue his study of the Magdalena River with a group of botanists; he already has spent two weeks doing research at the mouth of the river. Jordan said he had an internship at “60 Minutes” during the summer. He also has worked at National Public Radio where he produced a segment on private railroad cars. the link is http://www.npr.org/2018/04/27/606580141/take-a-ride-on-these-private-railroad-cars-known-as-yachts-on-rails

The other three scholarship winners attended Rotary’s Aug 15 meeting.

Clara Choate, 2016 Rotary Scholarship winner, will be a junior at Brown in the fall. She said she has decided to major in public health and psychology and wants to be a doctor. After the death of her father while she was in high school she worked with Gilda’s Club, a support group which supports families who have lost someone to cancer, and was a counselor this summer for a one week camp for kids who lost a parent to cancer. During the last school year, Clara worked with Project Sunshine helping kids with crafts in a hospital. This summer she had an internship at Bronx Lebanon Hospital where she worked with pediatric patients in the hospital and in their homes. This fall she will be studying public health in London.

Thomas Horowitz, 2017 Rotary Scholarship winner, will be a sophomore at Binghamton University, where he is majoring in computer science. He said he had some difficult freshman academic classes although he did get to make a video game at the end of one class. He was on the swim team and also volunteered at a high school for a swim team for kids with special needs.

William Shelton, 2018 Rotary Scholarship winner, will be attending Vanderbilt University as a freshman in September. He will take calculus and physics “just in case” he decides on an engineering major. He plays the saxophone and piano so he is looking forward to music off campus in Nashville as well as music on campus. William also just completed his work for Eagle Scout rank— painting and refurbishing four rooms upstairs at The Manor Club.

The Rotary scholarship dates back more than 54 years. A Pelham Memorial High School student was awarded a $250 Rotary nursing scholarship in 1964.

The size of the scholarship has increased over the years as Pelham Rotarians have found a variety of ways to raise the money—raffles and now a letter of appeal to the community as well as donations from every Rotary Club member. In 1970, the scholarship was $3,000; now it is $10,000. The scholarship committee chaired by Rotarian Ellis Moore Jr. chooses the winner based on academic record, community service, financial need and other factors, keeping in mind Rotary’s mission of ”service above self” and its goal of world peace.

The $10,000 scholarship is awarded in four installments and the winners pick up their checks each summer at a Rotary luncheon.