Rock Canyon graduates win Rotary Club scholarships
Rotary Youth chairperson Darrell Johnson (center) presents scholarship checks to Rock Canyon High School graduates Katie Dupper and Kaeli Nallathamby during an awards ceremony on June 20.
Two Rock Canyon High School (RCHS) graduates, Kaeli Nallathamby and Katie Dupper, were recently awarded $2,000 scholarships from the Rotary Club of Castle Pines (RCP) for exceptional academic performance.
The RCP usually gives one scholarship to a graduating senior, but this year it was too difficult to choose between the two finalists. “These two young women exhibited extremely high academics. Each received all A’s with one B during their four years at RCHS,” said Darrell Johnson, RCP’s youth chairperson.
Kaeli and Katie are close friends. They were leaders of the Interact Club, the RCP-affiliated club at the high school. “Rotary has been a big part of my life,” said Katie. “It’s really exciting to get it with Kaeli, who is one of my closest friends and has been through the club with me.”
Katie will be attending Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, in the fall. She plans to study neuroscience as her undergraduate major with hopes of going on to medical school. Katie lives in The Village at Castle Pines with her parents and older brother. She was an All-State athlete in track and field at RCHS as a middle-distance runner and relay performer.
Kaeli is heading to Colorado School of Mines in Golden and majoring in quantitative bioscience engineering with a minor in bio medics. She lives in the Wildcat Ridge neighborhood in Highlands Ranch with her parents and younger sister. Kaeli plays completive club soccer for REAL Colorado. Her regional league team won a state title last year. “I was so thrilled,” said Kaeli, “It’s so nice having money for my education.”
Both students have attended the Youth Rotary Youth Leadership Awards summer camp in Estes Park (a leadership program hosted by Rotary International). They will be junior counselors at the camp later this month.
“Rotary had such an impact on my high school experience in the best ways imaginable. I hope other students can experience the same,” concluded Kaeli.
By Mindy Stone; photos courtesy of the Rotary Club of Castle Pines
