YOUTH MERIT AWARDS

Youth Award Winnners.

THE CHARLOTTE ROTARY YOUTH AWARDS

The Charlotte Rotary Youth Awards program is designed to recognize outstanding seniors in the Charlotte community that excel both in the classroom and beyond. Special emphasis is given to those individuals who embody Rotary’s motto: Service Above Self.

In accordance with Rotary’s commitment to education, one senior from each qualifying Charlotte-Mecklenburg public high school and five qualifying private/independent schools is chosen by each school to be recognized as recipients of the Rotary Youth Award. In addition to the recognition and a commemorative plaque, the students receive a $500 tuition grant to be applied to the institution of higher learning which they will attend.

The program has become one of the highlights for Rotarians each year. At the annual May luncheon at which the student recipients are recognized, the Rotarians learn where the students plan to attend college and their expected field of study.

HISTORY

The original recognition came in 1980 when Royce Angel and Jac Saltzgiver of the Boys Work and Youth Service Committee presented a special salute to our senior high school leaders. Royce introduced each principal and each outstanding student from the 10 schools and Jac presented the students with a framed, honor certificate from our club.

High School	Principal	Student
East Mecklenburg	Leroy “Pops” Miller	Ricky Lewis Fisher
Garinger	Richard Cansler	James Kevin Core
Harding	Don C. Rogers	Junius B. Hipp, Jr.
Independence	Henry L. Hawkins	David Harris York
Myers Park	R. Frank Rozzell	John Toslosky
North Mecklenburg	Joe Hunt	Neana Elaine Smith
Olympic	James W. Emerson	Michael Neal Mason
South Mecklenburg	Ned T. Richardson	Cecelia Kay Bishop
West Charlotte	William B. McMillan	Deborah Elizabeth Lake
West Mecklenburg	Freddie G. Leger	Gregory Scott Black

Royce introduced Jay Robinson, superintendent of our Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system. Robinson commented on the importance of developing leaders as part of the schools’ responsibility to the community and thanked the club for honoring the principals and the students.

The program continued to grow, recognizing 11 public schools between 1990-1992; 12 schools in 1994, plus a monetary award of $250 per student was added. Private schools were added to the mix in 1996, bringing the total number of students to be recognized to 20. The monetary award increased to $500 per student in 2006 and we average recognizing 23 students each year.