For over 75 years, the Kiwanis Club of Roanoke has provided financial assistance to deserving college bound seniors from area high schools. On Wednesday, July 22, with the generous support of American National Bank and Pinnacle Financial Partners, the Club continued that tradition by announcing this year’s scholarship winners. They are Danielle Brock and Sharon Chen, graduates of Northside High School, Hannah Luviano and Stephanie Unur, graduates of Hidden Valley High School, and Cartlie Vincent and Deaquan Nichols, graduates of William Fleming High School.
Club President Cheri Hartman noted that the Covid 19 Pandemic made the process of reviewing the some thirty highly qualified scholarship applications the Club received unusually challenging. Applications had to be distributed electronically and all Scholarship Committee meetings and interviews had to be conducted remotely.
President Hartman commended the Committee for completing its work in a timely fashion despite these added obstacles and emphasized how excited the Club was with this year’s honorees, each of whom excelled academically while, at the same time, involving themselves in many, worthy service projects throughout their years in high school.
Two thousand dollar ($2,000) scholarships were awarded to Ms. Brock, Ms. Chen, Ms. Luviano and Ms. Vincent. Ms. Brock will be attending UVA Wise this fall, while Ms. Chen will be heading to Virginia Tech. Both Ms. Luviano and Ms. Vincent will be matriculating at UVA Charlottesville.
A three thousand dollar ($3,000) scholarship was awarded to Stephanie Unur who will be attending Georgetown University where she will be majoring in international relations. Among her many service activities, Stephanie, as a first generation American of Mongolian descent, worked as a volunteer editor for the “Mongolian Art Collector,” a publication devoted to the education of the public on the visual and fine arts of Mongolia.
A four thousand dollar ($4,000) scholarship was awarded Deaquan Nichols who is already enrolled at James Madison University (JMU) where he is doing follow-up research related to his high school science project. He was awarded the LeAnn Whitlock Memorial Award for Excellence and the Roanoke City Award for the “Most Innovative Science Project” for that project. Deaquan was also the recipient of this year’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference “Dr. Martin Luther King Youth Achievement Award” for his many and varied contributions to his community.
In conclusion, President Hartman noted, “This year’s scholarship recipients, and indeed, all of the scholarship applicants, reflect most favorably on Greater Roanoke and its youth. We all can take great pride in their achievements and in them.”
Scholarships are awarded each year to graduating seniors in Roanoke City and County high schools. To find out more about Kiwanis Club of Roanoke visit www.roanokekiwanis.org. To learn more about applying for a scholarship, contact your high school’s guidance department.
