The Allentown-West Rotary awarded $1,000 scholarships to several area students during a ceremony May 20 at Lehigh Carbon Community College, Schnecksville.

Students receiving the scholarships included Joanna Suriel and Victoria "Tori" Dikeman from LCCC, Samantha Diaz and Kaitlyn Montgomery from Catasauqua High School and Lehigh Career and Technical Institute, Kristen Post and Jaedon Muhl from Northwestern Lehigh High School and Kristen Tauber and Bryan Sobczak from Parkland High School.

In addition to the scholarship, each received a Kindle Fire HD 7 from Cal Sasaran, Amazon facility general manager.

Hope Pierson of New Tripoli Bank and a member of the Rotary Scholarship Selection Committee was emcee for the ceremony.

She said the students applied for the scholarships by completing an application.

"Financial need, service, leadership, integrity and academic performance formed the basis of the selection process," Pierson said. "The Rotary selection committee met and reviewed the 52 applications."

"While there were many deserving applicants, we believe these eight students' best met the criteria."

Suriel, a member of the Psi Beta and Phi Theta Kappa honor societies for community colleges, will be transferring to Penn State.

"She believes in applying integrity both in her personal and academic life," Pierson said.

Dikeman, a member of the Student Leadership Council, president of the LCCC Literacy Club and a member of Phi Theta Kappa, will transfer to Bucknell University.

Diaz, who is in numerous clubs and activities including Scholastic Scrimmage, National Honor Society, debate team, and drama at LCTI or Catasauqua High School, will attend the University of Pittsburgh.

Montgomery, a student at LCTI and Catasauqua High School, is actively involved in many clubs and is the editor for the yearbook and newspaper.

She wants to attend Moravian College.

"She believes integrity and doing the right thing is a choice we make each day," Pierson stated.

Post, who strongly believes in giving back to her community by volunteering weekly in the infusion center at Lehigh Valley Hospital, visiting Phoebe Home, and giving small piano concerts for the patients, plans on becoming a doctor and attending Villanova University.

She has participated and led other volunteer opportunities through Key Club and National Honor Society at Northwestern Lehigh High School.

Muhl, who has been an officer for the past two years with the Northwestern Lehigh High School Interact Club and been involved with Meals on Wheels, the Miracle League and the Rotary's Snack Pack program, plans on attending LCCC.

Tauber, who belongs to several honor societies including National Honor Society, is an Interact Club member at Parkland High School, and has a passion for working with the intellectually disabled.

She wants to attend the University of Delaware.

Sobczak, who is the president of three clubs and vice president of several others, thrives on giving back to his community and helping others.

He wants to attend Alvernia University, Reading.

Allentown-West Rotary President Barbara Kistler also presented Parkland High School Student Caleb Wade with a $500 Alpine Educational Foundation scholarship given by an anonymous Parkland alumna.

Kistler said Wade, who has a love for nature, wants to give back through environmental sciences by becoming a civil engineer.

He applied for the scholarship online by writing a paragraph about nature.

"What he wrote about really struck me as something that Rotary believes in and you have heard it a couple of times already this morning, using the job your are in to do service," Kistler said. "And Caleb talked about his love of nature and wanting to improve our environment, boy is that a worthy goal."

"Then to top it off, at the end of his paragraph he wrote 'eventually I want to be an engineer without borders,'" Kistler stated. "That statement at the end of his paragraph did it; he was the one for the Alpine Educational Foundation Scholarship award."