Rotary Club of Charleston Honors Rotary Scholars and Teacher of the Year

May 17, 2011: This past Tuesday our Rotary Club recognized “Service Above Self” scholars from the following schools: Ashley Hall, Burke High School, Porter-Gaud and First Baptist. The Charleston County Teacher of the Year and Honor Roll Teachers were also honored.

The first “Service Above Self” Scholar Honoree was Betsy Cribb. Betsy is a senior at Ashley Hall. She was recognized for her continued efforts for always doing the right thing and helping others. Betsy is a member of National Honor Society, Head of Honor Council, Student Body Vice President, a member of Ashley Hall’s Red Choir and Swing Choir, and she is an active participant in Charleston’s theater community. As her senior platform, Betsy organized a fundraiser to benefit the Girl Up campaign. Girl Up is a campaign that raises awareness and funds for programs of the United Nations; that help some of the world’s hardest-to-reach adolescent girls. She organized a choir concert at her school that raised over $5000 for the Girl Up Campaign.

The 2nd Honoree was senior Jasmine Campbell. Jasmine was described as being a mature and outstanding person. Jasmine is an academic scholar at Burke High School. While most kids her age are at the mall or playing video games, Jasmine dedicates her afternoons volunteering at the local community YMCA. She helps with the after-school program. Jasmine says she wears many hats while at the YMCA. She is role model, tutor, and mentor. She credits herself for always providing words of encouragement to the students. She enjoys putting smiles on their many faces.

The 3rd Recipient was Senior Meagan Miller of First Baptist School. Megan is currently SGA President, Senior Class President, and she is a Dancer with the Art Studio. To add to her accomplishments she was recently honored as Valedictorian of her senior class. As if her schedule was not busy enough, for the past five years Meagan has been volunteering every Sunday night at the Crisis Ministries Shelter, preparing meals for the homeless. Each Sunday evening Meagan’s job is to roll the paper napkins at the shelter. In each napkin she writes a personal message of encouragement with the hopes of offering inspiration.

The 4th recipient was Stacy Fairey. Stacy is a senior at Porter-Gaud. Stacy was described as being dedicated and selfless. Stacy was recently awarded a scholarship to play basketball at John Hopkins University. Stacy was also inducted into the Service Society for dedication to Pet Helpers. Stacy says she enjoys working with Pet Helpers because it is a no kill program. She helps with fundraising and facilitating adoptions.

In addition, four outstanding Charleston County Teachers were also honored during Tuesday’s program. Those teachers are Jason Kraeger, a 2nd Grade teacher at Pinehurst Elementary, Cynthia Smith from Buist Academy, Mary Zena White from Charles Pinckney Elementary and Braeden Kershner, a music instructor at CE Williams Middle School.

Finally, Charleston County Teacher of the Year, Eva Rutiri was recognized. Eva teaches web-design and entrepreneurship at West Ashley School. Eva has a Bachelor of Science in Marketing Education and a Masters of Education from Winthrop University. Eva has taught for twenty-five years. She began her teaching career in Charlotte, North Carolina. She has also taught Southeast Asia. After teaching in six continents, Eva returned home to South Carolina to teach.

Submitted by Katie McCravy, Keyway Committee