Kiwanis Club of Puyallup awards scholarships

Kiwanis Club of Puyallup recently awarded $20,450 in scholarships to 25 local students entering college this fall.

Because of the community service emphasis of the Kiwanis, the scholarship grading criteria emphasizes those college-bound students with a history of community service work.

The scholarship recipients received certificates from Kiwanis Club members at their school’s award ceremony earlier this year.

The Kiwanis Club of Puyallup was chartered in 1921 and incorporated in 1928. During the 1920s, land was purchased land downtown to construct a Kiwanis Youth Center. Construction of the Youth Center was delayed due to both the Great Depression and then World War II, and the vacant lot was rented to local merchants as parking. This income was used to fund Kiwanis Scholarships to high school graduates.

After World War II it was recognized that a larger Youth Center would be needed. The downtown lot was sold to the Puyallup School district in 1985 and the Puyallup Kiwanis Foundation was created. The funds from the parking lot became the corpus of the foundation’s funds and these invested funds continue to fund scholarships today.

Since its origination, the foundation scholarships have expanded beyond Puyallup High students to include students from Rogers, Emerald Ridge, Walker, Sumner, Bonney Lake and Cascade Christian high schools.

The foundation has awarded more than $135,000 to college-bound high school seniors between 2005 and 2014.

The 2015 recipients of the Kiwanis Club of Puyallup scholarships are:

Community Service Scholarships ($1,000)

▪ Taylor Andreas – Rogers High

▪ Stephanie Choi – Emerald Ridge High

▪ Julia Inderbitzin – Cascade Christian High

▪ Kaitlin Dooley – Emerald Ridge High

Larry D. Bargmeyer Community Service Scholarship ($1,000)

▪ Julia Heseltine – Puyallup High

Kiwanis E.B. Walker Scholarship ($1,000)

▪ Raziya Akins – Walker High

Bill Bumbaugh Memorial Scholarship ($1,000)

▪ Brianna Huhmann – Rogers High

Key Club Community Service Scholarships ($500)

▪ Georgina Bowman – Bonney Lake High

▪ Amanda Roberts – Sumner High

Key Club Community Service Scholarship ($800)

▪ Jaskirat Kaur – Emerald Ridge High

Dean Dow Kiwanis Scholarship ($850)

▪ Kyle Larson – Sumner High

Wm. Brantley Memorial Business Scholarship ($1,000)

▪ Ryan Colkitt – Puyallup High

Zevenbergen Business Scholarship ($1,000)

▪ Nicholas Papen – Puyallup High

Ernest and Ellen Bay Biology Scholarship ($1,000)

▪ Shianne Paynter – Puyallup High

Quann Kiwanis Scholarship ($950)

▪ Elijah Brooks – Rogers High

McClung Family Leadership Scholarship ($1,000)

▪ Lindsey Stover – Cascade Christian High

Fred Pyfer Memorial Scholarships ($1,250)

▪ Anna Aversa – Bellarmine Prep High

▪ Kelsey Treat – Emerald Ridge High

Lloyd and Caroline Freudenstein History Scholarship ($1,500)

▪ Conor Collins – Rogers High

Stan Cross Leadership Scholarships ($500)

▪ Amanda Osborne – Rogers High

▪ Logan Krehbiel – Rogers High

Major Vern Hill Memorial JROTC Scholarships ($225)

▪ Brandon Murray – Rogers High

▪ Ariel Advincula – Rogers High

Dennis King Sr. JROTC Scholarship ($400)

▪ Pamela Stephenson – Rogers High

Kiwanis Club of Puyallup JROTC Service Award Plaque

▪ Austin Kile – Rogers High

This story was originally published July 28, 2015 at 12:09 PM with the headline "Kiwanis Club of Puyallup awards scholarships."