JACKSON, Wyo. — On Tuesday, June 1, The Rotary Club of Jackson Hole held its annual scholarship luncheon at Jackson Hole High School.
Thirty-nine students received scholarships, totaling $186,500.
Superintendent Gillian Chapman opened the meeting saying, “You the graduates are our inspiration. You showed us how to thrive. You can do anything you can learn in masks, you can thrive in masks…you showed us adults how to connect.”
Rotarian Len Carlman gave the students a charge based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights urging them to carry forward equal opportunity, equal justice and equal dignity wherever they go.
Rotary Foundation Vice President and Scholarship Committee Chair Jeff Ward recognized his fellow scholarship committee members, Jim Waldrop and Deidre Ashley. He thanked the Fund for Public Education and Annie Riddell with the Community Foundation of Jackson Hole for their role in organizing and managing the scholarship program.
Amy Ringholz has donated over $85,000 in art that has been auctioned to raise scholarship funds and two students each year are awarded an art scholarship. Ward was pleased to announce a 70% increase this year in multi-year scholarships, saying this has been a goal of the program, to help more students “get all the way to the finish line.”
The scholarship students represented varied interests and goals – childhood education, engineering, pharmaceutical research, mental health and psychology.
During the meeting, Ward paid special recognition to Foster Friess, who passed away last Thursday, and the support of the Friess family for their match challenge donations to the Rotary scholarship program over the years, now totaling over $500,000.
This was the first in-person event for the Rotary Club. The event was held virtually last year due to COVID-19.
