Fairfield Rotary honors high school scholars

Creekside seventh-grade math teacher Faith Koehne was named the Fairfield Rotary Club’s Educator of the Year.
The Fairfield Rotary Club issued $14,000 in scholarship awards last week to graduating Fairfield High School seniors. Pictured are some of the academic scholars recipients, from right to left, Brando Vaquez Rodriguez will attend the University of Cincinnati, Andrew Hopper will attend the University of Cincinnati, Angel Jennings will attend Penn State University, Dryanna Hesse will attend the Ohio State University, Avery Pennington will attend Miami University, Sarahi Velaquez will attend Miami University, and Parisina Tiwari who will attend Miami University. Tiwari was the club's Sterling Uhler scholar winner. Not pictured among the academic scholars are Quinton Jarrett, who will attend Purdue University, and Daniella Otisi, who will attend the Ohio State University. MICHAEL D. PITMAN/STAFF

Credit: Michael D. Pitman

Credit: Michael D. Pitman

The Fairfield Rotary Club issued $14,000 in scholarship awards last week to graduating Fairfield High School seniors. Pictured are some of the academic scholars recipients, from right to left, Brando Vaquez Rodriguez will attend the University of Cincinnati, Andrew Hopper will attend the University of Cincinnati, Angel Jennings will attend Penn State University, Dryanna Hesse will attend the Ohio State University, Avery Pennington will attend Miami University, Sarahi Velaquez will attend Miami University, and Parisina Tiwari who will attend Miami University. Tiwari was the club's Sterling Uhler scholar winner. Not pictured among the academic scholars are Quinton Jarrett, who will attend Purdue University, and Daniella Otisi, who will attend the Ohio State University. MICHAEL D. PITMAN/STAFF
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May 25, 2024
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The Fairfield Rotary Club issued $14,000 in scholarship awards to graduating high school students this year.

In a ceremony at the high school last week, recipients received their awards. Fairfield High School Principal Ryan Bellamy said the awards “just proves that hard work does pay off. I encourage you to keep the same focus as you move onto the next chapter of your life.”

Academic scholars include Brando Vaquez Rodriguez, Andrew Hopper, Angel Jennings, Dryanna Hesse, Avery Pennington, Sarahi Velaquez, and Parsina Tiwari, as well as Quinton Jarrett and Daniella Otisi, who were absent at the ceremony.

Parsina Tiwari, left, was named the Sterling Uhler Scholarship winner by the Fairfield Rotary Club on Thursday, May 16, 2024. Tiwari, who posed for a picture with Rotary President Anthony Neal, plans to study nursing at Miami University. MICHAEL D. PITMAN/STAFF

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Tiwari, however, was given the highest honor by the club, named for the late Sterling Uhler. Rotarian Warren Webb described Uhler’s character and mindset through a golf analogy. He said golfers at times can create a divot when putting on the green, and if a golfer makes a divot, “it’s your job to fix that divot so the next golfer who putts has a nice, smooth surface. But the unwritten rule is not only do you fix your divot, but you fix somebody’s else’s. I think that idea was Sterling. He was a wonderful, wonderful person. He was the first person to make everybody feel at home and enjoy a meeting every Friday. That is not an easy thing to do.”

Webb said during Tiwari’s scholarship interview, she “was one of the more impressive meetings I’ve ever witnessed.”

Academically, Tiwari has never had a grade-point average under 4.0 and finished her Fairfield High School career with a 4.2 GPA. She’s been a member of the Fairfield National Honor Society and the Butler Tech National Technical Honor Society, and since her freshman year has completed more than 115 hours of community service through service and leadership clubs.

This does not include her work with Fairfield’s Asian-American Association, Business Professionals of America, Health Care Professionals of America (she wants to go into nursing), and volunteer work with Big Brothers Big Sisters, among others.

“With all of these opportunities in high school, I’ve always been driven to try new things, which has brought me to where I am today,” she said in her application for the Rotary Scholarship. “I learned how to discover things that interest me, helped me make friends, and step beyond my comfort zone.

The Rotary Club also honored newly minted Fairfield High School graduate Donna Julian-Mendoza with an art scholarship, and Creekside Middle School seventh-grade math teacher Faith Koehne was named the Fairfield Rotary Club’s Educator of the Year.

Newly minted Fairfield High School graduate Donna Julian-Mendoza was awarded an art scholarship by the Fairfield Rotary Club. The recognition was at the service organization's annual recognition of Fairfield students and educators, which was on May 16, 2024. Pictured is Julian-Mendoza talking about her untitled piece. MICHAEL D. PITMAN/STAFF

Credit: Michael D. Pitman

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Credit: Michael D. Pitman

Creekside Middle School seventh-grade math teacher Faith Koehne was named the Fairfield Rotary Club's Educator of the Year. She was honored at last week's Fairfield Rotary Club's meeting on May 16, 2024, which also awarded scholarships to several graduating seniors. MICHAEL D. PITMAN/STAFF

Credit: Michael D. Pitman

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Credit: Michael D. Pitman

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Michael D. Pitman has been a reporter in southwest Ohio since 1999. He's covered local governments in Warren and Butler counties, as well as state and national issues. He currently covers the cities of Fairfield and Hamilton.