ROTARY SCHOLARS RECOGNIZED

May 8, 2007: Myron Harrington introduced four talented Rotary scholars at the meeting last Tuesday. Brittany Nicole Coaxum, Sarah Renee Ellison, Tina Rae-Tin Mao, and Trent William Robbins, are high school seniors with stellar academic and extra-curricular resumes. Only one of these four exemplary youths was chosen to receive the grand prize of a $3,000.00 scholarship, however all of them received our praises. The three runners up to the grand prize each received a $1,000.00 scholarship award.

Brittany Coaxum, from Burke High School, was the President of the National Honors Society, has received the Septima Clark Award, was Miss Burke 2006-07, and has time for activities like the marching band and the Academic Bowl team! Ms Coaxum plans to attend the USC (Columbia) in the fall, where she would like to major in psychology. She came to our meeting with three very welcomed guests, her mother, guidance counselor, and school Principal.

Sarah Renee Ellison, who is set to attend U. Penn in the fall, is a senior at Ashley Hall, where she was Vice-President of the student body, President of the National Honors Society, and Chair of the Honor Council. She is also heavily committed to volunteering her time to community activities, and plans to continue that in college. Both of Ms. Ellison’s parents and her college advisor joined us at the meeting.

Trent William Robbins has attended First Baptist Church School his whole academic career. It seems that he is mature beyond his years, and he explained that his passion and drive come from his desire to fulfill a higher calling. Among other things, Mr. Robbins is the Valedictorian, Student Government Chaplain, a member of the Math Team, and an avid community volunteer.

Tina Rae-Tin Mao was chosen as the grand prize winner of the Rotary Scholars award. Ms. Mao is a senior at Porter-Gaud, and she has yet to chose from an array of top notch schools for her higher education. She has been accepted to UNC Chapel Hill, U. of Chicago, Princeton, and a list of other Ivy League schools. Yet Ms. Mao is not only an incredibly bright young woman- she is also the Managing Editor of her school newspaper, a member of the Forensics team, the winner of the Sewanee Award for Excellence in Writing, the Franck C. Ford Award for Leadership, among others. Porter-Gaud’s Dean of Students was present to see Ms. Mao receive her award.

Ms. Mao answered questions from the club members with poise and confidence, as did the other three scholars. The question and answer session reaffirmed why these four young adults were chosen from their respective institutions as the creme of the crop. We enjoyed spending time with the scholars, and hope to see them in Rotary again some day!

Submitted by Jackie Grau, Keyway Committee