The Rotary Club of Dearborn awarded a total of $16,500 in scholarships to 11 graduating high school seniors from Dearborn Public Schools’ Career and Technical Education Programs.  The recipients were given special recognition at the Club’s 24th annual Otto J. Rowen Awards May banquet.

The annual awards are made possible through a trust established by Otto J. Rowen and administered by the Dearborn Rotary Foundation, to assist career technical education and special education students.  Mr. Rowen was a Dearborn teacher, administrator and Rotarian who was an industrial arts teacher at Fordson High School in 1927 and became principal of Woodworth Junior High School in 1928.

“As we went through the scholarship selection process, it was very rewarding to learn about these outstanding seniors who were nominated by their teachers,” said Susan Surducan, Dearborn Rotarian and chair of the 2012 Awards Selection Committee.  “Having a chance to meet the students, their parents, families and teachers at our awards banquet is one of the highlights of the Club’s year.”

The scholarship winners in the CTE programs included Automotive—Alaa Younes, Dearborn High School (HS); Business Education—Amira Abouarabi, Fordson HS; Computer Science—Ala’a Tolba, Dearborn Center for Math, Science and Technology (DCMST), Fordson HS; Culinary Arts/Hospitality & Tourism—Ben Lansing, Dearborn HS and Michael Berry Career Center (MBCC), Drafting/Design—David Stretanski, MBCC and Dearborn HS; Family and Consumer Science—Amber Steciak, Dearborn HS; Health Occupations/Allied Health—Asmahan Ahmed, MBCC and Dearborn HS; Information Technology—Anna Stassen, MBCC and Dearborn HS; Marketing Education—Kelsey Fitzgerald, Dearborn HS; Video Production Dimitrius Ramirez, Dearborn HS; and Welding—Patrick Kosin, Edsel Ford HS.

During the awards banquet, student winners were congratulated by Dr. John Artis, 2011-12 president of the Rotary Club of Dearborn and Ron Gutkowski, assistant superintendent of Dearborn Public Schools.  Students were recognized individually with the teachers who nominated them.  Winifred Green, principal of the Michael Berry Career Center and Chris Willard, special populations coordinator, helped to present the awards.

Serving on the 2012 Awards Selection Committee were Dearborn Rotarians Dr. John Artis, Darlene Schoolmaster and Sue Surducan along with Janice Fawaz, Mayman Mustafa, Gail Welmers and Chris Willard of Dearborn Public Schools.

About Dearborn Rotary

Established in 1923, the Dearborn Rotary Club is one of more than 33,000 clubs located in 200 countries worldwide. Rotary is the world’s first and largest international service organization, founded in 1905 by Paul P. Harris, a lawyer, in Chicago, Illinois.  The Rotary Club of Dearborn meets every Thursday from 11:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. at Park Place in Dearborn, and guests are always welcome.  For more information, visit www.dearbornrotary.org.