Welcome

This year, 13 seniors applied to our Foundation and we awarded five $2,000 scholarships totaling $10,000. 

During our interviews with the students, some remembered receiving a dictionary or thesaurus from the Centerville Rotary Club when they were in third or fifth grade. Each student received a book especially selected for them because of an interest, career or educational goal described to the committee during the interview. 

Lilith Holloway

Lilith Holloway is an accomplished musician, dedicated leader and selfless volunteer.  She participated in several Centerville High School musical ensembles and her commitment to the marching band program earned her a position as one of the Drum Majors, an honor given to only the most outstanding student leaders. Band Director, Brandon Barrometti, writes, ‘Lilith is always the first person to offer help to another student in need, and she is very selfless in her approach.’ She has volunteered as band librarian, served as a Chem Buddy and maintained band lockers and storage units. Former Band Booster President, Margaret Buttram, details Lilith’s strengths for mentoring new students; organizing the sheet music, equipment and events; and genuinely caring about those around her. Lilith will attend Wright State University to study biochemistry with the goal of becoming a pediatric surgeon. Better: a surgeon’s notes on performance by Atul Gawande is the book we selected for Lilith. Dr. Gawande writes of the struggle to perform well when we are faced with fatigue, limited resources, and imperfect abilities to do whatever we choose to do. Nowhere is this drive to do better more important than in medicine, where lives may be on the line with any decision.

Megan Knauer

Megan Knauer is a Centerville High School graduate who will attend the Duke University to study neuroscience. Her scholastic activities included National Honor Society, Scholar Athlete, AP Scholar with Distinction and National Merit Finalist. She volunteered with the school’s Chem Buddies and Elk Connector programs; served as Vice-President of her graduating class; and assisted with children’s running programs for CGXC Running Camp and Up and Running. Megan has been employed at Mathnasium of Centerville for the past three years. Her references detail her initiative, drive and passion. Cross Country Coach David Dobson writes, ‘Megan carries herself in an honorable and respectful manner that immediately exudes confidence in her own abilities, but also with the grace to understand her imperfections. She is highly respected by her peers, teachers and coaches. She is looked up to by every athlete on our team.’ Megan wrote in her essay that she wants to use her knowledge of neuroscience and political science to promote peace and understanding in international circumstances through outreach to underserved communities. With this in mind, Megan is receiving the title, Phantoms in the Brain by V.S. Ramachandran who writes about uncovering answers to the deep and unusual questions of human nature that few scientists have dared to address. Dr. Ramachandran recounts how his work with patients has shed new light on the deep architecture of the brain, and what these findings tell us about who we are. 

Trisha Kulkarni

Trisha Kulkarni will attend Stanford University to study computer sciences or symbolic systems. She intends to gain exposure to different disciplines and learn how technology will play a continual role in our civilization’s progress. Trisha was a member of the National Honor Society, AP Scholar, 2018 candidate for the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program, vice-president of the Centerville Speech and Debate Team and state qualifier in public service announcement for Health Occupations Students of America program. She serves her community by teaching younger students taekwondo; organizing the Kulkarni Family Gold Outing Retinal Research Fundraiser; and helping as a Leader Dogs for the Blind camp counselor. Her references note Trisha’s exceptional intellect especially for mathematics, natural curiosity and great sense of humor. The book, Enchantress of Numbers: a novel of Ada Bryon Lovelace by Jennifer Chiaverni, is the book selected for Trisha by the committee. Enchantress of Numbers tells the story of Ms. Lovelace, Lord Byron's daughter and the world's first computer programmer. This book is being delivered digitally to Trisha through the Libro.FM website. 

Danielle Meyer

Danielle Meyer is a Centerville High School graduate whose academic awards coupled with her other numerous activities include National Honor Society, President of the STAGE Theatre Club, Lunch Buddies, youth drama camp counselor, and chairperson for the Food for All food drives at Incarnation Parish.  Danielle’s references site her extraordinary communication and leadership skills, dedication to whatever she sets her mind to do, and commitment to bringing out the best in those that she serves. She will attend Wright State University to study business and theater with her goal to become a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador. The committee selected Find me unafraid: love, loss, and hope in an African slum by Kennedy Odede and Jessica Posner for Danielle. Jessica is an American theater student who studies abroad in Kenya and meets Kennedy, a young leader in the community, together they start a school for girls in Kibera, the largest slum in Nairobi, Kenya. 

Cassidy Tobin

Cassidy Tobin actively uses both sides of her brain as a dancer and a scientist. For the past eight years, she has danced with the Miami Valley Dance Company and their community outreach program. Through Centerville High School’s engineering program block, she participated in the Project Lead the Way program. Members of this group demonstrated the joy of building robots and other mechanical devices with kindergarten classes to encourage children to appreciate and study science, technology and math. Cassidy been accepted into the University of Cincinnati’s School of Chemical Engineering. Her goal is to become an astronaut. The Glass Universe: how the ladies of the Harvard observatory took measure of the stars by Dava Sobel is the book selected for Cassidy. This book narrates the little-known true story of a group of women at the Harvard College Observatory whose contributions in the mid-nineteenth century to the growing field of astronomy forever changed our understanding of the stars and our place in the universe. Please welcome Cassidy Tobin.