Student Awards for 2007
Four outstanding Oswego High School students and their parents were honored by the Oswego Rotary Club and its president, Paul Scott, at its regular weekly meeting at King Arthur’s Steakhouse on Tuesday, June 5, 2007. The students are this year’s recipients in the club’s long-standing program of scholarships and awards. This year there were seventeen candidates for the three scholarships and two for the occupational education award.Erica Connors received The Anthony Murabito Oswego Rotary Scholarship which honors the long and continuing Rotary membership of Anthony Murabito, former principal of Oswego High School, and his work with the club’s scholarship program. Mr. Murabito has been a member of the club for 50 years and serves currently as a member of the Scholarship Committee. Connors has been a varsity cheerleader, member of Student Council, and member of Key Club all four years of high school. She is also a member of the National Honor Society and Students Against Destructive Decisions. Connors has been a Sunday school teacher, teen leader, acolyte, nursery volunteer, and member of the youth group at her church. She has earned many honors including Who’s Who Among American High School Students, Who’s Who Honor Society, USCAA National Cheerleader Leadership and Service Award, National Society of High School Scholars, LeMoyne Scholar Leader Scholarship, and Fredrick Douglas and Susan B. Anthony Award in Humanities and Social Sciences. Connors plans to attend St. John Fisher College and major in biology and pre-medicine. She is the daughter of Eric and Amy Connors.
Elizabeth Alnutt was selected to receive The Charles E. Riley Oswego Rotary Scholarship which is given to honor the memory of the founding president of the Oswego Rotary Club and a former superintendent of the Oswego schools. Alnutt played soccer, volleyball, and lacrosse; also, tennis, in which she was a sectional qualifier. She performed with the concert and symphonic bands where she played the flute. She is a member of the National Honor Society and Key Club, which she served as secretary. She has volunteered her services to many community organizations and projects including freshman orientation, Red Cross blood drive, youth lacrosse league assistant, skateboard park, Oswego youth basketball, wrestling tournament, dodge ball tournament, Letters to Soldiers, Cell Phone for Soldiers Overseas Fund, and trick or treating for UNICEF. Her honors include academic distinction throughout high school, team scholar athlete in tennis, volleyball, and lacrosse, and Who’s Who Among American High School Students. Alnutt plans to attend Northeastern University to pursue the field of pharmacy. She is the daughter of Carol and the late Robert Alnutt.
Michael Herring received The Ralph & Dorothy Faust Oswego Rotary Scholarship which honors the memory of a former president of the club and former principal of Oswego High School and his wife. Herring has been a member of many school organizations and activities including Key Club, Drama Club, school chorale, school chamber singers, concert orchestra, symphonic orchestra, school musicals, string quartet, and school fiddle group. He has performed with both voice and violin at many events in the community and region including city Christmas tree lighting, Richardson-Bates House, nursing homes, Rotary Club, Oswego Historical Society, school board meetings, Oswego Community Orchestra and Community Opera, Phoenix musical, Camp Hollis, Oswego County Garden Tour, and Grace Moore Young Talent Association. A partial list of Herring’s honors includes academic honors throughout high school; all-county, area all-state, and conference all-state orchestra and chorus; first place at Heritage Music Festival in Washington, D.C,; and member of National Honor Society. He scored 99 out of 100 at the New York State School Music Association Solo Festival for violin for three years and for voice for one year. Herring plans to enroll at SUNY Fredonia to complete a double major in music performance and music education. He is the son of David and Patryce Herring.
Each Oswego Rotary Club scholarship will provide $1000 toward the students’ college expenses. Selection for the awards considers contributions to school and community activities, academic record and awards, and the quality of a written essay.
The Oswego Rotary Club annually offers one Doctor Manjula R. Shah Oswego Rotary Occupational Education Award to acknowledge the importance of the work that Rotarians do in their professions. Each of the more than 31,000 Rotary clubs in the world is organized around members’ occupations. This is done to emphasize the value and dignity of all work and to assure that each club represents a cross section of the businesses and professions of its community. This award is given to honor the memory of Dr. Manjula R. Shah; physician, philanthropist, and dedicated Rotarian. Dr. Shah was an anesthesiologist who practiced in Fulton and Oswego. She was born in Umreth, India. She pursued advanced training in anesthesia in the United States at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital and Brooklyn Methodist Hospital in New York City. Dr. Shah enjoyed singing, music, philosophy, and most especially spending time with her family. Dr. Shah was known for her generosity, kindness, and her devotion to her husband and children. She died with her husband, Dr. Ravindra F. Shah, in a plane crash on September 27, 2003.
Sarah Botting was selected to receive this year’s Shah Occupational Education Award of $500. It is given to an Oswego High School student who completes an occupational education program in preparation for gainful employment. Selection is based on the applicant’s demonstrated skill in the chosen field and demonstrated leadership ability. Besides completing an application form, students must obtain two letters of support from people familiar with their skills and leadership ability. Botting completed the New Visions Allied Health program at Oswego County BOCES. She was recently inducted into the National Technical Honor Society at Mexico BOCES. She completed three rotations at the Oswego hospital pharmacy and is employed in the pharmacy of Kinney Drugs in Oswego. She has been active in school organizations including Students Against Destructive Decisions, Spanish Club, prom committee, National Honor Society, Science Club, and Key Club. In the community she participated at the Hall Newman Center annual valentine fundraiser, Youth in Action Team, and Youth Employment Summit Planning Board. She has been honored with the Oswego Rotary Club Top 100 for three years, Studio in Art High School Award, Oswego High School Physics and Math Awards, Who’s Who Among American High School Students, and Oswego Children’s Board scholarship. Botting plans to attend the Albany College of Pharmacy to earn a doctorate in pharmacy. She is the daughter of Jeffrey and Teresa Botting.
The Oswego Rotary Club, founded 80 years ago, supported high school graduates from its early days with a loan program to help with college expenses. Sometime in the early 1960s the loan program was dropped and scholarships began to be awarded. The value and number have increased over the years to the current level of three $1000 scholarships awarded annually. The club raises the money through members’ dues and contributions, occasional memorial gifts, and fundraising projects such as the annual pancake breakfast in May and pasta dinner on election night in November. The club hosts the annual Top 100 Dinner to honor the accomplishments of the 25 top academic students in each of the four classes at Oswego High School. The club has established an endowment fund to help underwrite the scholarship program in the future. Gifts and bequests will be held in perpetuity, with only the earnings used for awards.
The Oswego Rotary Club, in cooperation with Rotary District 7150 covering central New York State, participates extensively in student international exchanges. Oswego has been host to Sanna Rättyä from Finland during the current school year. A student from Bavaria is scheduled to arrive in Oswego this summer and will stay for the next school year.
Members of the Scholarship Committee this year are Anthony Murabito, Diane Sokolowski, William Crist, and Vernon Tryon.
Anyone having questions about the Oswego Rotary Club scholarship program is invited to call Vernon Tryon, Scholarship Committee chairperson at 315-343-9692.
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