
It was my pleasure to once again serve on the Rotary Club of Des Moines scholarship interview team for East High School. Every year RCDM awards six $8000 scholarships, one to each of the Des Moines School District's six high schools: East, Hoover, Lincoln, North, Roosevelt and Scavo. And every year my interview partners — Kelly Sargent and Mark Lyons — and I wish we could give scholarships to all four East High finalists.
This year was no exception.
Difficult as it always is, our job is to select a winner, and this year’s East High RCDM scholarship recipient was Ashley Martinez-Torres. Although Ashley has only been in the U.S. four years, and English is her second language, she earned a 3.5 grade point, qualified for membership in National Honor Society and participated in volleyball and theater, all while working part-time at a restaurant and a radio station to help support the family. Ashley plans to major in multi-media communications and photography at Des Moines Area Community College, then transfer to Grandview University to complete her degree, with a goal of a career in broadcasting.

Alicia succeeded. She graduated in the top 15% of her class and was awarded a nearly full-ride scholarship to attend Drake University.
Based on Kelly’s experience, she knows that finding clothes in those sizes is a challenge, so she asked if Mark and I might be willing to throw in a little money along with some of hers in order to take Alicia on a little shopping excursion for college clothes. They made two shop-till-you-drop trips and had lots of girly fun along the way.
The other RCDM Des Moines School District scholarship winners are:
Lincoln High School — Joslyn Cardenas-Flores plans to attend medical school to become a surgeon.
North High School — Jasmine Inthabounh will be attending Drake University where she'll study journalism and business.
Roosevelt High School — Emma Hildebrandt graduated with a 4.0 and will pursue a nursing degree at Luther College.
Scavo High School — Maleah Hall plans to study nursing at DMACC and Grandview University.
Congratulation to all of you. Your futures look bright.