Elizabeth Township Rotary Club honors EF seniors

By CHRISTINE HAINES
chaines@yourmvi.com

Eight Elizabeth Forward seniors earned honors and scholarships from the Elizabeth Township Rotary Club.
All eight received certificates recognizing them for their community service. The community service awards were accompanied by awards of $750 each to offset the cost of post secondary programs.
“This year we have a lot of people who did community service you wouldn’t expect because of COVID,” said Elizabeth Township Rotary Club President Cheryl Farrell.
One senior, Christian Guinto-Brody, was also the recipient of The Bob Williams Award from Rotary District 7305, which covers all of Allegheny County and parts of Butler and Westmoreland counties as well.
Farrell said this is the first time Elizabeth Forward has had a winner of the $5,000 scholarship. Four such scholarships are given out each year.
Farrell said Guinto-Brody’s record of service was exemplary.
“He was president of the Leo Club, which is affiliated with the Lions, for two years and he participated in Lions and Rotary Club fundraisers,” Farrell said.
Farrell said the teen was also involved in a program that provided baskets of food for area residents at Christmas, worked at spaghetti dinners to benefit the community and performed in the high school musical.
Guinto-Brody will be attending the University of Virginia with the goal of becoming a research professor in physics.
Selection was based on community service, academic achievement and financial need, Farrell said.
The Bob Williams Memorial Scholarship is funded by a foundation Williams set up prior to his death in 2009, Farrell said, endowing the scholarship program in perpetuity.
“We are so proud of these exceptional seniors. During these unprecedented and challenging times, they have continued to excel in academics and service to their community. We are extremely excited to see what the future holds for this group,” said district Superintendent Dr. Todd Keruskin.
In addition to Guinto-Brody, this year’s community service award winners include Natalie Beinlich, who will be going to Washington and Lee University to study international real estate, Madeline Fontana, who will be attending the University of Pittsburgh for computer science for medical applications, and Kailey Larcinese, who will be going to Towson University to study physical therapy.
Also receiving the honors were Nicholas Lawson, who is going to Penn State to study engineering with a concentration in robotics, Evan Lewis, who is attending Butler University-Delacy School of Business for corporate real estate, Andre Smith, who is attending Seton Hill University for mathematics and Benjamin Smith who will be attending a technical school for carpentry.