Rotary student scholarships exceed half million dollars

On May 15, the Rotary Club of Belleville held its 73rd Annual Scholarship Program at the Wayne County Community College Ted Scott Campus.
Seven scholarships totaling $32,500 were awarded to Belleville High School graduates.
Among revisions to the scholarship program this year was the creation of two awards in the names of past Belleville Rotarians: Donald D. Juchartz and Charles B. Cozadd.
Mr. Juchartz, well known to all, from local farmers to community and national leaders, had a remarkable career in public service, sharing his horticulture expertise locally, nationally, and internationally, through consulting, broadcast and written media. He was also a dedicated Rotarian who exemplified the Rotary motto “Service Above Self.”
Mr. Cozadd a respected attorney and another committed Rotarian, was the contributor of the major estate gift that led to the creation of the foundation that makes the scholarship program possible.
The Donald D. Juchartz scholarship was awarded to Nina Hardy and the Charles B. Cozadd scholarship went to Shelby Ostrewich.
In addition to the above eponymous awards, the club provided two college scholarships in the area of Academic Scholarship to Davis Mears and Erika Nofz, two more for Community Service to Noah Copeland and Alexandria Long, and the award for Vocational Education to Alec Emerson.
Belleville Rotary Club President Julie Hardy offered welcoming remarks including an overview of Rotary’s scope and purpose and invited those who are interested in learning more about the club to join them at 6 p.m. on Tuesdays for meetings at WCCC.
Scholarship presentations were made by Belleville Rotarians Susan Richardson, Debra Juchartz, Rachel Kozlowski, Jerry Richardson, and Keith Bruder. President Hardy then presented keynote speaker Hon. Brian Oakley, judge, 34th District Court.
Judge Oakley’s keynote presentation, directed primarily at the student awardees, encouraged the importance of striving for good character. He stated that fame and fortune may be nice, but probably aren’t the most important things in life.
Examples of good character are: doing the right and honest thing when no one else is around witnessing, or treating people kindly and fairly when you have nothing to gain by doing so. He encouraged the awardees to seek and find their own moral code — whether from a spiritual or secular source — then live by it.
He commented it is better to first hire people of character and then teach job skills than try to do it the other way around. He stressed that we always have a choice regarding our attitude on any situation. That is, we control our attitude, not others. In final comments, among other items, Judge Oakley suggested to the students that it’s good, sometimes, to get out of one’s comfort zone and try something new to expand personal confidence with knowledge.
Also in attendance in support of their students were Van Buren Schools Superintendent Peter Kudlak, Belleville High School Principal Stacey Buhro, and Assistant Principals Brian Roberson, Dan Wright and Scott Wilsey.
Since its inception, Rotary Club of Belleville has awarded $522,500 to Belleville High School students in the club’s scholarship program. This year, as in recent years, the primary funding source for the program has been the Charles B. Cozadd Rotary Foundation which assists the club in the funding or partial funding of many of its projects.