Promoting educational opportunities locally and throughout the world is one of the main causes of the Rotary Club. Since 17 percent of the world’s adult population is illiterate, the club’s goal is to strengthen the capacity of communities to support basic education and literacy, reduce gender disparity in education and increase adult literacy.
Rotary Clubs throughout the world have opened schools to break the cycle of poverty and social imbalance. In Kenya, Rotarians are working with the Global Partnership for Education and local/national governments to advance life-long learning opportunities for poor and marginalized children. Since students need a healthy environment to learn, the club is providing clean, fresh water to every public school in Lebanon so students can be healthier and get a better education. The club also promotes new teaching methods with The SOUNS program in South Africa, Puerto Rico and the United States. It teaches educators how to improve literacy by teaching children to recognize letters by sounds instead of names.
Rotary Club members also teach adults to read. Members in the United States partnered with ProLiteracy Detroit to recruit and train tutors after a study showed that more than half of the local adult population was functionally illiterate.
College and Vocational Scholarships
The Rotary Club recently awarded college and vocational school scholarships to deserving Granby and Simsbury High School graduates:
Abigal Slatter, Simsbury, $7,000, Rochester Institute of Technology
Caroline Hall, Granby, $4,000, University of New Hampshire
Sarah Medeika, Simsbury, $3,000, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Kate McNair, Simsbury, $3,000, Marist College
Chase Alexander, Granby, $3,000, Northeastern University
Nathan Griswold, Granby, $3,000, Western New England University
Thomas Kennedy, Granby, $2,500, Pennsylvania College of Technology
Matthew Starr, Simsbury, $2,500, Goodwin University
Sports Scholarships
The Elmer Vincent scholarships were awarded to students who excelled in sports:
Matthew O’Brien, Simsbury, $1,500, Central Connecticut State University
Amanda Gallagher, Simsbury, $1,500, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Rotary Leadership Training for high school sophomores
In June, Rotary held a workshop at Springfield College for selected high school sophomores to foster leadership training and good citizenship. Granby sophomores Vivian Pedersen and Catherine Peterson, and Ethel Walker student Preksha Agnihotri participated at the event.
High School Student Exchange Programs
Rotary has international student exchange programs. Some of the exchange students who are studying in New England recently gathered to describe their experiences and express gratitude for the program.
Peace Scholarship
Each year, Rotary awards up to 130 fully-funded fellowships for dedicated leaders from around the world to study at one of its peace centers. Since the program began in 2002, Rotary Peace Centers have trained more than 1,700 fellows who now work in more than 140 countries. Many serve as leaders in governments, NGOs, education and research institutions, peacekeeping and law enforcement agencies and international organizations like the United Nations and the World Bank. The Rotary Foundation will place the selected candidates in one of the seven designated universities in different parts of the world including the United States.
Applicants for the two-year, fully-paid graduate level peace scholarship program should have worked in the humanitarian service-related areas for at least three years. Details are available at rotary.org/en/peace-fellowships
Master’s Degree Scholarship for International Studies
Rotary is inviting applications from qualified candidates for a $30,000 scholarship to study at the master’s level outside the USA in one of Rotary’s areas of focus (education, fighting disease, promoting peace, protecting the environment, growing local economy, and more). Eligibility criteria and the application are available at www.RotaryDistrict7890.Org under DUNN Endowed Scholarship.
The Rotary Club is proud of its commitment to education. If you would like to learn more about these opportunities or the club, please email info@simsburygranby.org