Two Springfield HS students receive thousands of dollars in Rotary scholarships

Asebrook, Edwards earn award for exemplary character and high academic achievement.
Springfield High School seniors Samuel Asebrook and Thomas Edwards are recipients of of Springfield Rotary scholarships. SUBMITTED

Springfield High School seniors Samuel Asebrook and Thomas Edwards are recipients of of Springfield Rotary scholarships. SUBMITTED

The Springfield Rotary club awarded two Springfield High School seniors the annual Rotary Fox Scholarship, recognizing their exemplary character and high academic achievement.

“The rotary has always been about supporting students in Clark County and doing what we can to give back to the community,” Springfield Rotary Scholarship Chair Bonnie Bartos said. “This is the foundation of what the Rotary is all about.”

The Rotary Fox Scholarship is one of two different scholarships managed by the Springfield Rotary and funded by the Springfield Foundation. Every other year, the Rotary selects two recipients from Springfield High School. The Rotary opens one of the spots to other high school seniors in Clark County on even numbered years.

Samuel Asebrook and Thomas Edwards, the 2021 scholarship winners out of 18 total applicants, each received a $2,000, four-year renewable scholarship to aid in accomplishing their academic and career goals.

For Edwards, winning the scholarship enables him to study Moving Image Production, Communication and Law at Columbia University in the fall.

As his high school’s student council president and National Honor Society president and an involved member in his community, Edwards wanted to surround himself with colleagues exhibiting his passion and drive for learning.

“I was really looking at things I can do to help me afford my future and the rotary scholarship was the perfect opportunity,” Edwards said. “Financially, it helps it become more of a realistic option for me to pursue a four-year career at Columbia. That money helps me pay for a fantastic education that’s both well rounded and one that’s really going to prepare me for anything that life can throw at me after I graduate.”

Edwards also values the trust the Rotary club instilled in him to make a difference with his future.

As a student who has been taking a full course of college classes between Clark State University and Wright State University since his junior year of high school, Asebrook is ambitiously approaching the next step in his education.

“It [the scholarship] means everything to me. It shows that generations older than me believed in me to be able to go and change the world to make it a better place for generations after me,” Asebrook said. “I’m really humbled by that. There’s a difference between hearing that people believe in you and actually seeing the fruit of your labor come to fruition.”

Asebrook, the second Springfield High School scholarship recipient, will attend Miami University in the fall to study robotics and computer engineering.

This year, the Springfield Rotary will award over $16,000 in new and continuing scholarships to Clark County students to help further their education after high school.

About the Author