Oxford Rotary Club awards over $22,000 in scholarships

More than $22,000 in scholarships and program grant awards were distributed by the Oxford Rotary Club’s Hefner Fund in the past year and club members heard about them at an awards day presentation May 17.

That total included $10,000 in college scholarships awarded to eight graduating Talawanda seniors, all of whom were present at the club’s weekly meeting held at the Knolls of Oxford.

The Hefner Fund is an independent corporation organized for charitable purposes by the Oxford Rotary Club.

Board chair for the fund, Alan Oak, said they carefully review applications and have been impressed with the organizations receiving funds because of the wide reach they have into the community, with “3,500 touches.”

“It is encouraging to see the caliber and accomplishments of the young people in our community and the significant work being done by so many organizations to improve the quality of life for all of us,” Oak said.

Six of the scholarship recipients will use the money toward traditional four-year college programs while two are entering non-traditional programs of study.

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Presented with scholarships for four-year programs were:

• Alex Bowie (Ohio State) said he ran track and cross country for six years and made his college choice, in part, because he is “a fan of big cities.” He plans to study biomedical engineering and research artificial body parts and organs.

• Natalie Cobb (Ohio State) played soccer and bowling in high school and will study chemical engineering and biology and hopes to work in pharmaceutical manufacturing with plans to work in other countries.

• Elijah Frazier (University of Cincinnati) said he has been involved in 4H since sixth grade and was a little with Big Brothers/Big Sisters. He said he loves Oxford but wants to see the city and is looking at a possible biomedical major in college.

• Emily Froude (Miami University) has enjoyed being involved in the music program in high school as part of the concert and marching bands and having the opportunity to play in the All-Ohio Honor Band. She wants to major in international studies and eventually work for the State Department or United Nations with a chance to “negotiate and solve problems on a grand scale.”

• Adam Mandrell (Ohio Northern University) said he has been a member of the Talawanda swimming team for four years and went to state competition all four years. He plans to study pharmacy in a six-year accelerated program.

• Peter Whiteman (Ohio University) played soccer all four years at Talawanda on defense and was a member of the National Honor Society. He said he chose Ohio because his brother and sister go to Ohio State and he wanted to go someplace else and likes mountainous regions. He plans to major in chemical engineering.

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Also helped with scholarship money from the Hefner Fund were two THS seniors planning to go into non-traditional careers. They are:

• Beth Hansford (Good Samaritan School of Nursing) said she has been in FFA for two years and found it a great group of people. She said she loves nursing and helping others and has high expectations for herself. She has not settled on a nursing specialty but is considering surgical work.

• Cody Kiefer (Wilmington College) wants to major in agronomy studying plants and soil. He has also been in FFA and was part of the soil judging team which finished 19th in the nation in an FFA competition. He was also an FFA officer this past year. He said he also served as advisor for a middle school group this year, teaching agricultural aspects.

The Hefner awards included $12,500 given to 12 organizations or programs aimed at the youth in the community.

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Members heard from representatives of three of them who were guests at lunch.

Talawanda Middle School music teacher Kelly Case told of the Bel Canto Honor Choir’s April trip to Chicago for a competition for which the fund provided $1,000.

Middle school sixth grader Kylee Fear told of the experience she and classmates had at Space Camp, for which the fund contributed $1,000. She told of her group’s winning an award for best mission teamwork on a simulation.

The third speaker was Becky Howard who spoke of the growth and accomplishments of the Oxford Literacy Team’s work in the Super Summer Readers Program which provides books and activities to encourage reading, helped by a $2,000 grant from the Hefner Fund.

The other recipients of funding this year were the eighth-grade trip to Washington DC, Sandy Hormell Community Book Celebration, United Way of Oxford Back to School Supplies program, Coalition for a Healthy community Oxford Area for obesity reduction/prevention efforts, a Kramer Elementary School spring author’s visit, Miami Little League, Talawanda students at Buckeye Boys State, Respect for Law Camp and the school district Four-Way Test Speech Contest.

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