Allentown West Rotary recently announced three 2021 Parkland High School scholarship winners.

“There were many qualified applicants who met the twin criteria of service and leadership in order to be eligible for a scholarship,” said Dr. Barbara Kistler, chairwoman of the committee. “It is both work and a privilege to read through, scale and rank the student applicants.”

The selection committee this year included Gary Englehardt, Gwenn Carr, Amir Famili and Laurie Grube, with Kistler as chairwoman.

There was no question the three young women receiving scholarships best exemplified what the committee was looking for.

All three of them are officers of the Parkland Interact Club, one of Rotary’s high school service clubs.

First is Julianne Dee who was also AW Rotary’s December Student of the Month, chosen by her counselors for that honor.

Dee’s application clearly demonstrated how her life experiences shaped her passion and compassion to serve others.

Her major service projects include “Stuff the Bus” with Interact, as well as regular snack-packing, which has continued through this year of COVID.

She serves as the treasurer of the Interact Club and is president of Parkland CARES Club, which aims to raise money and awareness of children in orphanages.

Dee volunteers at the Kindness Project, a local closet for families with foster children, which she has experienced firsthand.

She volunteers at the Parkland C.A.R.E.S. Food Pantry and is a volunteer assistant soccer coach for “Athletes of the Cross.”

Dee is part of the Emerging Health program at Lehigh Career Technical Institute and spends time there and at Lehigh Carbon Community College this year preparing for a medical career.

She organized an umbrella drive bringing together the Parkland National Honor Society and people in the Emerging Health program at LCTI and gathered 100 umbrellas for the Lehigh Valley Health Network Street Medicine program where she had identified a need.

Dee says leaders should lead by example.

“Leaders should take the time to know and listen to members of their teams,” she explained.

In addition to the leadership positions already mentioned, she is captain of the Parkland Girls Tennis Team.

Dee is already planning and thinking about the kinds of service she might do in college and beyond.

She is planning on becoming a physician assistant and wants to work in an underserved community.

She has been accepted into the accelerated St. Francis University PA program as part of its Honors College.

She lives the Rotary motto of “Service Above Self” and desires to serve her community through her medical career.

The second recipient is Rachel Li, who says that it makes her “happy” to give time and energy to help and serve people.

She, too, has had life experiences which have presented challenges.

She lost her father to cancer five years ago.

Rachel’s life experiences have shaped her in having empathy for others and seeing the needs for service and leadership.

Not only does she do extremely well academically, but tutors math and other subjects through Parkland’s National Honor Society and National Math Society. Li is the Interact Club’s vice president and has participated in the all Interact projects including “Stuff the Bus” and Snack Packs.

She volunteered at a rescue ranch and has spent summers volunteering at St. Luke’s Hospital doing errands, talking to patients, and delivering newspapers.

She is also involved with the Parkland CARES Club, which provides orphans in China with educational opportunities, and serves as the club’s vice president.

She is the Amnesty International Club’s vice president, and virtually volunteers at an activism organization for young people.

And she now assists younger musicians to adjust in the Honors Orchestra and Strolling Violins.

She has given musical performances in nursing homes.

She is planning to be trained as an Emergency Medical Technician this summer to learn skills important in her future career.

Li aspires to earn a Bachelor’s degree in nutrition and a Master’s degree in physician assistant studies.

She has been accepted into Northeastern University’s direct-entry PA program.

The third recipient is Parkland Interact President Haley Bowman.

Bowman sees service avenues.

She’s joined clubs like Interact which do service.

She participates in service through her church and she participates in service through her community including with her father’s work in the community. Her Interact Club projects include Snack Packing, “Stuff the Bus,” Cookies and Cocoa at Sheridan Elementary School, and a card drive for residents at Cedarbrook.

At her church, First Presbyterian in Allentown, she has been volunteering for over seven years painting benches, collecting donations for a food bank, doing the Crop Walk for hunger needs, helping in the garden at Sixth Street Shelter, and weekly summer “mission mornings.”

With her father, she volunteers in the community helping with a breakfast feeding program, donating food to Daybreak, and volunteering at Parkland CARES. Besides being president of Interact, Bowman has exhibited leadership skills in a number of other venues including as supervisor at Dorney Park where she reports learning many managerial skills.

At her church she wrote a play which was produced as a fundraiser for a local food bank.

Administrative skills for youth leaders include getting permission for everything and Bowman was able to move through those hoops.

Bowman has chosen a career path to help others.

She plans to become an adolescent therapist.

She would like to own and operate her own private practice, once she has gained needed experience in the field.

She has been accepted at SUNY University at Albany.

All scholarship winners receive a swag bag containing an Amazon Kindle Fire 8 compliments of Amazon.com, Breinigsville.

State Farm agent and Rotarian Brad Maier donated Dunkin’ Donuts gift cards, a magnet and message board.

An Allentown West Rotary Club pen set and Rotary cookie made by President-elect Gail Micca were also included in the bag, which was donated by member Laurie Grube’s Riverview Bank.