The Rotary Club of DeLand honored the 50 winners of its 2023 Rotary Achiever Awards at a May 25 luncheon at the Wayne G. Sanborn Activity Center. Rotary President Keira Espada kicked off the celebration with a parade of all the winners, and then thanked Rotary Achiever Project Chair Davion Belk for all his hard work on this project.
Rotary Achiever Awards are given annually to West Volusia elementary-school students in the fourth and fifth grades who have exhibited the greatest increase in academic achievement during the school year, based on standardized reading tests. The main goal of the Rotary Achiever Program is to instill the concept of rewards received for effort expended.
Since 1997, the Rotary Club of DeLand has given out 1,227 Rotary Achiever Awards and invested more than $180,000 in this program.
Along with the those recognized in the photos, two schools, Freedom Elementary and Starke Elementary were not able to attend the ceremony. Freedom Elementary School Rotary Achievers include Reid Bridges, Cooper Erickson, Amaia Felix-Vazquez, Akira Rodriguez, Aiden Liontis and Danika Jackson. Edith I. Starke Elementary School Achievers did not attend the luncheon. Those recognized are Kyrin Hill, Giovanni Morales, Ji’Nye Nealy and Shy’Na Reels.
