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Seventeen seniors from local high schools received $67,000 in scholarships from the Rotary Club of Menlo Park last week in ceremonies at the club's regular meeting.

All the students have been accepted into four-year colleges, including Berkeley, Santa Clara, USC and the University of the Pacific in the west to Smith, Brown and Williams College in the east. The Rotary grants ranged from $2,000 to $5,000 and are given directly to the colleges to pay for tuition and other expenses.

Three weeks ago the club awarded $15,000 in scholarships to 10 students who will attend local community colleges. The winning students received grants of $1,000 or $2,000 and were identified by school counselors, who passed their recommendations on to a Rotary scholarship committee.

To qualify for the four-year college scholarships, students submitted a lengthy written application that included their academic record, community service and financial need, and then were interviewed by a Rotary committee, which selected the winning candidates. Twenty-six students from Menlo-Atherton, Sacred Heart, Eastside Preparatory and East Palo Alto Charter high schools applied. The students live in Menlo Park, Redwood City, and East Palo Alto. Many worked outside the home to support themselves and some attended summer enrichment programs at local or out-of-town colleges.

A number of the scholarships are named in honor of past and current Rotary club members, including John D. Russell, Robert Paroli, Ormand and Doris Rector, Arthur Flegel, the Tsui/Tsiang family and Drue Kataoka. A business and professional scholarship is underwritten by numerous local businesses.


Scholarship winners
Here are the students who received Rotary scholarships to either four-year or community colleges:

Gabriel Cervantes, Eastside Prep, will major in business administration at Williams College. Claudia Norton, Sacred Heart, will major in international relations at Brown University.

Seamas Clerkin, Sacred Heart, will major in electrical engineering at USC.

Jabari Perry, Eastside Prep, will major in English at Carleton College.

Deepak Charan, East Palo Alto Academy, will major in business and computer science at Cal State East Bay.

Adriana Huerta, Menlo-Atherton, will major in psychology or business administration at Santa Clara.

Khevna Mehta, Menlo-Atherton, will major in chemistry at UC Davis.

Uriel Hernandez, Menlo-Atherton, will major in medicine and biology at Middlebury College.

Stephanie Noriega, Eastside Prep, will major in psychology and theology at St. Mary's College.

Phiania Decatur Macpherson, Sacred Heart, will major in romance languages at Smith College.

Juan Sandoval, Sacred Heart, will major in business at the University of the Pacific.

Leslie Arroyo, East Palo Alto Academy, will major in criminal justice at Whittier College.

Andrew Cruz, Eastside Prep, will major in civil engineering at the University of the Pacific.

Paola Tovar, Menlo-Atherton, will major in math, science at UC Merced.

Michael Rodriguez, Eastside Prep, will major in mechanical engineering, college undecided.

Molly Murphy, Menlo-Atherton, will study art at the Parsons School of Design in New York City.

Estella Gonzalez, East Palo Alto Academy, will study pediatric nursing at the College of San Mateo.

Paola Solano, East Palo Alto Academy, will study dentistry at the College of San Mateo.

Andanita Kushboo, Menlo-Atherton, will study to be a dental technician at the College of San Mateo.

David Council, Menlo-Atherton, will study physical therapy at Foothill College.

Jose Mayen, Menlo-Atherton, will study environmental science at Canada College.

Saydi Ramos, Menlo-Atherton, will study banking at Canada College.

Cheri Slightam, Menlo-Atherton, will study nursing/teaching at Canada College.

Sabrina Hamade, Menlo-Atherton, is undecided and will attend Foothill College.

Jorge Tejeda, Menlo-Atherton, will study psychology at Canada College.

Stephanie Keith, Menlo-Atherton, will study English at Canada College.

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