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By Post Education

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Published 12:00 am Wednesday, June 24, 2015

With Ralph Ketner as the keynote speaker, the Crosby Scholars program celebrated its second year in Rowan County May 28 at The Event Center of Cornerstone Church. After an introduction by Catawba College President Brien Lewis, Ketner imparted humorous anecdotes from his life, including stories of his persuasiveness when dealing with a bad grade in geometry, as well as his early experience with entrepreneurship.

Ben Zino, a rising sophomore at West Rowan High School said he enjoyed the end of year celebration. “Ralph Ketner’s keynote address stole the show. He is funny.”

More than 1,200 students completed program requirements at Crosby Scholars this year, attending academies and performing a total of more than 9,800 community service hours.

Those students and their families were invited to attend this festive gathering which also featured the Rowan County Crosby Scholars program’s first graduating senior, Rebecca Gainey.

Gainey spoke about her struggles as she moved to Rowan County as a foster child with a child of her own. Through her determination, however, she was able to graduate a year early and begin working on her associate’s degree at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College.

As her Crosby Scholars senior advisor, Jessica Vess witnessed Gainey’s accomplishments and perseverance.

“Rebecca’s future is one that is built on overcoming obstacles, setting goals, and realizing dreams,” Vess said.

Throughout the evening, Crosby Scholars staff revealed program highlights for the year, recognizing students with outstanding community service and newly elected class officers in each high school.

Executive Director Jennifer Canipe acknowledged the tremendous support Crosby Scholars receives from the community, including the administrators and staff liaisons in the Rowan-Salisbury School System. She thanked Cornerstone Church and the staff at The Event Center for serving as gracious hosts for the second year and she gave a special thank you to the folks who give of their gifts, time and talents to support the program, stating that the Crosby Scholars program wouldn’t be able to function without their early and consistent backing.

In only its second year, Rowan County Crosby Scholars enrolled more than 2,300 students into the program, an increase of 600 students from the 2013-14 school year. This fall, with the addition of its first senior class, the program shifts to a 1:1 focus for these students as they near the deadline for applying to colleges. Special programming for middle school and high school students will continue to be offered throughout the school year for grades six through 11.

For more information about the program, visit www.crosbyscholarsrowan.org.

By Staff Report

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Published 12:00 am Friday, June 6, 2014

Rowan County Crosby Scholars celebrated its first academic year on May 27 at Cornerstone Church’s Event Center.
“All high school Crosby students who completed their program requirements were invited to attend,” explained Jennifer Canipe, executive director. “Our active middle school students will each receive a certificate and a coupon for pizza through the generosity of CiCi’s, but we wanted our ninth and 10th graders to have an opportunity to hear about what’s in store for them as a Crosby Scholar and to be recognized for their accomplishments this year.”
Students with more than 50 hours of community service were honored. One student with more than 100 hours logged was also recognized for her creative, self-initiated community service project.

“We are pleased to announce that when we calculate all of the hours from the 990-plus students who remain active in our program, we arrive at over 5,400 hours of Crosby Scholars volunteer hours in our first year,” adds Canipe. “And we are delighted with all of the hours our students are giving back to our community.”
Israel Suarez, a Forsyth County Crosby Scholar alumnus and current student at Catawba College, spoke during the evening. He shared his story of being a first generation college attendee and how the Crosby Scholars’ community service requirement broadened his horizons and helped him develop a career interest in the medical field.
The keynote speaker was Mona Lovett, the president and CEO of the Crosby Scholars program in Forsyth County. Lovett shared the history of the Crosby Scholars program and a number of successes their 20 year-old program has had in Winston-Salem.

The theme of Lovett’s speech was to encourage Crosby students to “show up and be present.” Lovett gave specific examples of times when students, by choosing to show up, and by choosing to attend a Crosby event in Forsyth County, became eligible to receive scholarship money. Using Israel as an example, Lovett said that his scholarship to Catawba College would not have come about without his “showing up” for Crosby events. Lovett concluded with a challenge to the Crosby Scholars in Rowan County to be accountable, and to follow through with their commitments.
Among the parents and students attending the night’s event were RSS faculty, staff and administrators, Rowan County elected officials, Crosby Scholars Board Members and volunteers.

“We wanted to make sure to not only recognize our community partners, but also our volunteers at this event,” said Canipe. “We could not have had the success we’ve had this year without the help of our school liaisons, grade advisers and academy volunteers. We hope that as we grow to incorporate grades 6-11 next year, more folks in the community will want to get involved and help us build a college going culture here in Rowan County!”

For more information about the Rowan Crosby Scholars program, please call 704-762-3512 or email info@crosbyscholarsrowan.org.