Seniors Boyer and Reda are awarded scholarships for their hard work and dedication.
Photo by Danny Showers
On May 2nd the Rotary Club of Denver Tech Center and TJ’s very own Interact club had a formal reception for Rotary scholarship winners Katie Boyer and Danite Reda, both of whom won a $2,000 scholarship to go towards their future education plans. They received this award for the dedication to the Interact Club sponsored by Danny Showers, and for their hard work in academics and extracellular activities.
Boyer and Reda were both presented with this scholarship in front of many Rotarians, Interact Club members, and their parents. They were each called up one by one and thanked by the Rotary Club representative for their dedication and for their service before self, which is a very important value and trait in the Rotary Club and the Interact Club.
Boyer says that her hard work is what allowed her to get this scholarship. Boyer is a peer tutor and avid tutor, which she averages nine hours per week. She has good grades, she babysits during her free time, and with Interact she has participated in (among others) the food drive for Inter-Faith and fundraising for Heifer, which allows a family in a third-world country without any stable income to buy a cow. “I feel really accomplished and my hard work in interact club has paid off. This scholarship will help me greatly to pay off some of my college expenses. It also gives me a good feeling because it is great to know that I can make a slight difference in someone else’s life,” said Boyer
Reda says she also made big progress and achieved success in high school to make it to where she is today. Reda has had many things to do this year along with staying on top of her schoolwork; she participated in TJ’s Urban Debate League, and was the co-captain for the team. She also has a job at Starbucks where she works 25-35 hours per week. “I think hard work comes with a lot of sacrifice; but it was well served with the rewards I have been given,” said Reda.
After the Rotary club honored Boyer and Reda, the Interact Club presented the Rotary Club with a $500 check to be matched with another $500 from The Rotary Club in order to help the natural disasters, earthquakes, and the tsunami relief efforts in Japan. Danny Showers has been working hard with the students in Interact to raise money for a shuttle shelter box. They spent time during lunch asking for spare change, and they even put plastic tubes in several teachers’ classroom, so students could contribute to the cause. The shuttle box will be used for a family that was in the Japan earthquake and tsunami. The box includes medicine, pots and pans, food, and other necessary materials to survive.
Showers say that he is very proud of all the work that his students have been contributing to the Interact Club. “Being a Rotarian myself, and understanding that what we are doing is blazing the trail for young adults to become Rotarians one day and help satisfy the needs on the world’s stage, is very rewarding” said Showers.
