Scholarship recipients and their teachers are shown at the Ann Arbor Rotary Club's May 5 meeting. The scholarships were received by Stephen Armstead III, Bryanna Brandon, Alex DeHart, Nathaniel Graulich, Brittany Hayes, Shakayla Lee, Johntya Lyons, Kiandra Madison, Ashley McElroy, Alycia Perry, Chris Roopchand, Larissa Sutton, Candice Thomas and Quin-Tez Tomlin.

Photo courtesy of Fred Beutler

The Ann Arbor Rotary Club awarded $20,000 in scholarships to 14 students from Stone High School through the school's STRIVE program this week, giving those students an opportunity to attend classes at Washtenaw Community College. 

The Rotary Club of Ann Arbor has always focused a major portion of its service work toward the community's youth. One aspect of this effort is to provide local high school seniors with college scholarships. The club works with the administrators at area high schools to select worthy recipients based primarily on financial need. 

However, the club's sponsorship of Stone High School's STRIVE Program goes well beyond financial assistance and helps to turn lives around.

"The members of the STRIVE program are often unpolished gems and the program gives students a little boost to get them to a point where they're starting to feel good about themselves and start looking forward rather than back," said Al Burdi, past-president of the Rotary Club.

Stone High School is an alternative high school in Ann Arbor where the typical student has tried other forms of education options without success. According to materials about the STRIVE program from the club, "those willing to apply themselves and change ineffective and/or destructive habits, STRIVE provided unique structure, incentives and motivation to earn a high school degree and an opportunity for higher education."

To participate, students sign contracts at the start of their senior year promising to maintain 90 percent attendance at school, stay drug and alcohol-free and apply themselves academically. During the school year, Rotary Club members regularly work with the participating students to mentor them, during activities such as lunch meetings. 

Students are then evaluated based on changes in their grade point average during their senior year. Those with the most improved grades are awarded the scholarships. Mentoring from club members continues after graduation.

"It's been a very interesting experience and I'm very glad I got to participate," said Alex DeHart, a STRIVE program student who got an award for having the highest GPA in the program. He plans on using his scholarship to take computer science and graphic design courses and hopes to one day get a job in the video game industry.

STRIVE scholarship participants in the past have gone on to attend Washtenaw Community College and successfully pass classes, with some even achieving goals such as hosting a radio show or pursuing emergency medical technician certification.

"The STRIVE Program has been going on for years, but we've been focusing on encouraging students to put their scholarships into use and last year 85 percent of students used their scholarships," said co-chair of the STRIVE committee Wendy Correll.

The scholarships were received by Stephen Armstead III, Bryanna Brandon, Alex DeHart, Nathaniel Graulich, Brittany Hayes, Shakayla Lee, Johntya Lyons, Kiandra Madison, Ashley McElroy, Alycia Perry, Chris Roopchand, Larissa Sutton, Candice Thomas, and Quin-Tez Tomlin.

Jenny Serwach is a student studying journalism and political science at the University of Michigan-Flint and is a summer intern at AnnArbor.com. She can be reached at jennyserwach@gmail.com.