VOL. 71, NO. 27- February 17, 2010
(215-360)

Published weekly except, Labor Day, New Years, Christmas, Easter, 4th of July, Thanksgiving and Quilt Show

"Community Scholarship Program"

It's been two years in the making, but a seed of an idea germinated by Rotarians Dwane Tucker and Ken Wheeler has blossomed into an ambitious program to provide each and every high school graduate in Paducah and McCracken County with a scholarship grant for up to 60 credit hours over five semesters at WKCTC. The program guarantees tuition for every student in the county. "We want to increase the overall quality and skill level of our workforce to make it more attractive to local employers and companies who will consider locating new business operations in our community," said Tucker.

Dr. Barbara Veazey, WKCTC President, said the program eliminates the No. 1 barrier to students going to college and remaining in college, which is the cost of tuition and books. It is hoped the new program will also help students in high school with the end goal of attending WKCTC in sight. In 2007, 27% of graduating seniors from the city and county schools didn't attend college. Veazey said they hope to increase the college going rate by 20%, which will put McCracken Co. in the top 10% in Kentucky. "This is our workforce of the future," she said.

In order to be accepted in the program, students have to be enrolled at a participating Paducah or McCracken County high school; have maintained a 2.5 or better grade point average through high school; have an attendance record of 95 percent or better; and have no major disciplinary problems during high school.

The public-private partnership forged by the Community Scholarship Program has reached its goal of securing $500,000 annually for the next five years of operation for the program. In addition to Rotary, the supporting partners are WKCTC, McCracken County Schools, Paducah Independent Schools, St. Mary Schools, Paducah Junior College, Inc., the City of Paducah, the McCracken County Fiscal Court, Paducah Bank and Trust, Computer Services, Inc., Paducah Power System, Paducah & Louisville Railway, Community Financial Services Bank, Geotech Engineering Inc., and Paducah Area Chamber of Commerce Business Education Partnership

The Rotary Task Force members charged with developing the program are Dr. Veazey, Ken Wheeler, Ed Hely, John Halsell, L.V. McGinty, Gerry Montgomery, George Shaw, B.A. Hamilton, Elaine Spalding, Dr. Randy Green, Tim Heller, John Williams, Jr. and Tracie Deaton. Hely, who has been REAP Chairman for the past two years was very instrumental in the process and will serve as the program's inaugural board chairman. The REAP scholarship program will continue to grant traditional scholarships

An endowment campaign to sustain the program will be launched at a later date.

Congratulations to Rotary for launching such a progressive program for a community of our size!

NEXT WEEK

Sarah Hendley - The United States Senate Program, an Unparalleled Experience

&
95th Club Anniversary

ANNOUNCEMENTS

President L.V. said the Paducah Rotary Club is celebrating its 95th year, which makes it one of the oldest Rotary Clubs in the world. A group photo will be taken next week to commemorate the event.

Information about District Rotary Scholarships is available. http://www.rotarydistrict6710.org/view/251 Seven scholarships will be awarded in our district. Our local deadline is Feb 25, 2010.

As a reminder, the annual speech contest is being held February 24, 2010 at 4:00 p.m. at the McCracken County Library. The regional contest will also be hosted in Paducah on May 5, 2010 at the McCracken County Library.

GUESTS

Bill Holt, Brandon Moore, Jessica Stinson, Shelby Reynolds, - Mike Muscarella; Cheryl Baugus -David Bailey; Beth Stapleton, Rayla Bridges - Amy Clevidence; Raffaele Ponit- Darlene Dryer; Ronnie James- Brent Gaines; Community Scholarship Program guests- Comm Richard Abraham, Comm. Carol Gault, Comm Gerald Watkins, Judge Van Newberry, Anne Gwinn, Betsy Flynn, Barry Griffith, Gene Gilliland, Jeremy Roe, Randall Blackburn, Tom Garrett, Ray McLennan, Janett Blythe

FEBRUARY STUDENT GUESTS

BIRTHDAYS THIS MONTH

Brown, Jim

Colburn, Roger

Drossos, Basil

Eckenberg, Missy

Edwards, Alex

Harris, James

Kolb, Tara

Meriwether, Robert

Moffitt, Charles

Muscarella, Mike

Nuckols, Kelly

Qualk, Bud

Sanders, Mark

Stone, Debbie

Sullivan, Bo

Taylor, Scott

Travis ,Kay

Wilson, Sandra