Colton H, one of our two $10,000 scholarship recipients, joined us in August 2024 to celebrate his achievement.  Also attending was his mother, Stacee, and Westside High School Intervention Counselor, Graham Stansbury.  Our  Challenge Scholar (CS) chair, David Barshes, zoomed in to facilitate a discussion with Colton, his mom, Graham, and mentors Jim & Carol Adamson. The CS Program selects up to eight kids in their sophomore year of high school who are at risk of not graduating, pairs them with Rotary Club mentors for two years, and offers cash incentives (up to $300/semester) for meeting with the mentors, doing community service, and passing all classes.  Two of the eight students in the cohort receive a $10,000 scholarship to the college or training program of their choice, based on how they did the last two years of high school and the amount of incentives received.

David asked Graham to describe Colton two years ago, and why he thought Colton would be a good candidate for the CS program.  Graham explained that Colton had missed most of his freshman year and had several challenges, but that Colton was a very smart person who had the potential to do well.  Graham read a couple of letters from his teachers praising the work Colton did to catch up and stay on track to graduate.  Colton agreed, and said the cash incentive sounded good.  Mentors Jim and Carol described Colton as quiet and unmotivated when they were first introduced to him.  They have seen a lot of growth in him over the last two years, and said the incentives did a lot to keep him motivated. 

One of Colton's biggest challenges was living in Leavenworth and having to depend on the Link bus system to get to school nd back.  He had to work very hard the last couple of months to complete his credits and graduate on time.  Colton's mom thanked Rotary for the opportunity, and said Jim and Carol had been a blessing to both of them during the last two years.

Colton took part in the Wenatchee Valley Technical Skills Center culinary arts program his last two years.  He is now working part-time in the kitchen at Chateau Faire Le Pont, and plans to use his scholarship to attend a culinary school within the next year and become a chef.