Archive: Around Town

As part of its mission to provide "Service Above Self" in the local community, the Rotary Club of Ithaca recently made three scholarship awards to local high school graduates:

James L. Gibbs Memorial Scholarship - $1,500
Recipient: April Carroll, Ithaca High School Class of 2015

James L. Gibbs was an active African-American community leader and volunteer in Ithaca. He served as president of the Ithaca Rotary Club in 1974, and the club established the James Gibbs Memorial Scholarship Fund in his memory in 1981. This award provides a tuition scholarship of $1,500 for one year to a member of the Ithaca High School senior class who plans to attend college. It is awarded each spring to a student who has demonstrated an exceptional level of commitment toward furthering interracial understanding, and for his or her leadership, initiative, academic achievement, and financial need in addition to involvement in civic, social, and school activities.

Gibbs Scholar April Carroll engaged her passion for digital media while at IHS. There, she created a TV series inspired by the Disney Channel called "Living with White Rice." Her project and several others screened at Cinemapolis on June 24. April will continue her work this fall at Ithaca College, where she will combine her digital media studies with a minor in African Diaspora Studies.


James B. Marsh Memorial Award - $200
Recipient: Conor Coutts, Ithaca High School Class of 2015

The James Marsh Memorial Book Fund provides $200 for books for one year to a member of the senior class at Ithaca High School who plans to attend college. James Marsh was a long time IHS history teacher and boy's lacrosse coach. He was actively involved in the Ithaca Rotary Club's youth exchange program, and served as club president in 1985.

2015 awardee Conor Coutts excelled in track and field and cross country while at IHS. He plans to pursue a nursing degree at Carroll College in Helena, Montana this fall.

TST-BOCES Career & Technical Education (CTE) Student of the Year Award - $1,000
Recipient: Meghan Moore, South Seneca High School Class of 2015

Each year, one BOCES Career & Technical Education student is selected as the most outstanding student in that graduating class. The recipient must be a Greatest Achievement Award winner within their class to be considered for the Rotary award.

The 2015 CTE awardee Meghan Moore is a BOCES criminal justice student from South Seneca High School. She served as her class president, and is the first in her family to attend college. She has been accepted to Corning Community College, where she will continue her studies in criminal justice this fall.

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