The top prize winner in this year’s Rotary Club of St. Joseph-Benton Harbor Scholarship Essay Contest is Our Lady of the Lake Catholic School’s Vincent DeStazio. The Rotary tells us more:
At the weekly meeting of the Rotary Club of St. Joseph-Benton Harbor, local students who participated in the annual Rotary Scholarship Essay Contest were honored. This competition is presented in collaboration with Berrien RESA. Both organizations are excited to share the results of the 2023 competition.
Rotary Scholarship Essay Contest chair and St. Joseph Public Schools Superintendent, Jenny Fee, shared, “The Rotary Essay Contest is a wonderful opportunity through which the students of the county showcase their impressive creativity, critical thinking, and writing skills. The essay responses were particularly poignant, reflecting the significant impact of the global pandemic on the students throughout their high school careers. The quality of the submitted essays was remarkable as always, and we thank the educators in our communities for teaching, mentoring and supporting these exceptional students in their endeavors. Our best wishes and appreciation go out to each of the essayists who participated in the contest, and we wish them continued success in their future studies and efforts.”
Congratulations to the winners of the 2023 competition!
1st Place – $1,000 Scholarship – Vincent DeStazio, Our Lady of the Lake High School
2nd Place – $750 Scholarship – Keagen Papke, New Buffalo High School
3rd Place – $500 Scholarship -Lincoln White, St. Joseph High School
About the winners:
Vincent DeStazio (1st Place Winner), is currently a senior at Our Lady of the Lake Catholic School in St. Joseph, MI. In the Fall, Vincent plans to attend Loyola University of Chicago majoring in Mathematics. At Our Lady of the Lake, Vincent is a member of the Concert and Marching Bands, Varsity Track and Field team, Secretary of the National Honor Society, a founding member of the school’s DECA Chapter, an avid volunteer with the Interact Club, and dual enrollment student at Lake Michigan College. He is a President’s Lists Honor Roll student and AP Scholar with Distinction. Outside of school, Vincent enjoys his time working as a Sales Advisor at Best Buy.
Keagen Papke (2nd Place Winner), a senior at New Buffalo High School, is noted to be a rather sociable person which has dictated most of his life choices. Throughout high school, Keagen has participated in clubs and sports. He is a member of the student senate, runs cross country, and participates in track and field. He also utilizes his people skills at his fast-paced ice cream parlor job, which he has held for four years, where he scoops and serves ice cream, takes payment, makes change, and completes other duties to help the business run smoothly. He is an integral member of his family where he babysits his nieces and nephews or gets them ready for school in the morning. Spending time with his grandparents is also a priority: Keagen will help them with gardening or housework. Being passionate about many art forms has guided Keagen toward a career in moviemaking. Along with his love of the arts, he has also challenged himself academically by taking as many AP and rigorous classes as possible, which has put him on track for graduating with STEM certification. Keagen plans to attend the University of Michigan in the fall where he will study film and media.
Lincoln White, (3rd Place Winner), a senior at St. Joseph High School, is president of his class, student senate member, and captain of the SJHS News Team. He grew up in St. Joe and loves to read at the beach and write in the forest. As president of SJHS’s Dungeons and Dragons club, you can often find him reading nerdy books and coming up with ideas for the next adventure. Lincoln loves to sing and dance on stage, and hopes to continue acting in college. He plans to study International Relations with aspirations to become a diplomat.
About the competition:
The Rotary Scholarship Essay Contest is now in its 42nd year and 2023 marks the 15th year partnering with Berrien RESA to advance the program. This partnership was invaluable in expanding the opportunity to encompass over 20 schools and coordinating alignment of contest parameters with high school social studies content expectations.
The Rotary Scholarship Essay Contest promotes critical thinking, writing skills, and awareness of contemporary social issues. The contest is open to one senior nominated from each high school in Berrien County, plus one homeschool student.
Students from 16 schools throughout Berrien County competed this year. In addition to the winners, the following students participated in this contest: Alexia Gayle of Andrews Academy, Zachary Duah of Berrien Springs High School, Presley Gogley of Brandywine Senior High School, Brady Roberts of Bridgman High School, Andrew Walker of Buchanan High School, Carleton Brooks of Countryside Academy, Emilee Demski of Eau Claire High School, Daijah Strickland of Grace Christian School, Julia Davis of Lakeshore High School, Julianna Koehler of Michigan Lutheran High School, Karli Kovalak of Niles Senior High School, Hannah Holman of River Valley High School and Kendall Molter of Watervliet Senior High School.
The Essay Background/Prompt:
The essay prompt was developed by the Rotary Essay Committee, in consultation with and refined by the RESA Language Arts consultant to help ensure clarity and fit with the current High School studies content expectations:
“Write an essay using one of the challenges that is currently facing our nation. How does or will this challenge affect your decisions as you prepare for your own future related to continuing your education or area of employment? How do you view your place in society as a whole? As you construct your essay, be sure to provide relevant and valid evidence to support your decision-making. The COVID-19 pandemic has changed our world. The international health crisis affected citizens in nearly every nation. For the United States, the pandemic caused significant economic, educational, social, and environmental disruptions. From business and school closures to supply chain shortages, to a new focus on mental wellness and a mass exodus of employees from the labor market, COVID-19 has shifted the American experience.
As a student having experienced the pandemic, please share how COVID-19 impacted you as a teenager, your outlook on public health and what you would do differently from an education standpoint, should the world face another health crisis in the future.”
The students were provided with the topic of the essay question last December. In early February, the students reported to the Berrien RESA Technology Center to complete their essay. The rules and proctoring of the contest are rigorous to ensure a fair competition.
2 hour time limit
No internet or cell phone use
Allowed one 3” x 5” index card containing no more than 30 words
Allowed a dictionary and thesaurus
Judging of the essays was blind with students identified only by an assigned number and were judged by representatives of both Berrien RESA and the Rotary Club of St. Joseph-Benton Harbor. Judges were asked to set aside any personal opinions on the essay topic and judge solely on the basis of how well the arguments were crafted and supported, utilizing the four key criteria of (1) content, (2) coherence and unity, (3) originality and style, and (4) grammar, punctuation and spelling.
CLICK HERE to read the winning essay in its entirety.
Pictured: Vincent DeStazio, top prize winner.
