Ojai Valley News photo by Perry Van Houten
2025 Rotary Club of Ojai scholarship recipients, from left, Pablo Espana, Skylar Magill, Daniela Van Winkle, Jayleen Garrett, Bernadette Guardado, Kirra Fink, Ingrid Callahan, Dante Shevchuk, Cayden Budlong, Oeser Jamyang, Julieta Ramirez, Paola Carranza, Pako Rilling, Arianna Macias, Serena Aparicio. Not pictured: Cynthia Fregoso, Kazimir Kenton, Gabriella Calderon-Moreno.
Ojai Valley News photo by Perry Van Houten
2025 Rotary Club of Ojai scholarship recipients, from left, Uriel Covarrubias, Matthew Bustamante, Kimberly Hernandez, Crystal Ramirez, Leslie Ruiz, Zayra Lupercio.
Senior Reporter
Ojai Valley News photo by Perry Van Houten
2025 Rotary Club of Ojai scholarship recipients, from left, Pablo Espana, Skylar Magill, Daniela Van Winkle, Jayleen Garrett, Bernadette Guardado, Kirra Fink, Ingrid Callahan, Dante Shevchuk, Cayden Budlong, Oeser Jamyang, Julieta Ramirez, Paola Carranza, Pako Rilling, Arianna Macias, Serena Aparicio. Not pictured: Cynthia Fregoso, Kazimir Kenton, Gabriella Calderon-Moreno.
The Rotary Club of Ojai awarded $162,000 in scholarships to two dozen local high school students May 16.
The annual awards by Rotary and its not-for-profit Educational Foundation were presented during the club’s regular meeting at the Aquinas Center in Ojai.
Based on merit and need, scholarships were awarded to students from four schools: 17 from Nordhoff High School, three from Legacy High School, two from Oak Grove School, and two from Villanova Preparatory School.
Ojai Valley News photo by Perry Van Houten
2025 Rotary Club of Ojai scholarship recipients, from left, Uriel Covarrubias, Matthew Bustamante, Kimberly Hernandez, Crystal Ramirez, Leslie Ruiz, Zayra Lupercio.
Of the scholarships awarded, 16 were one-year college scholarships at $4,000 each; five were one-year career and technical education scholarships at $2,000 each; two were general Rotary college scholarships at $4,000 each; and one was a four-year Wilson College Scholarship at $20,000 each per year.
Oak Grove senior Arianna Macias, who will attend UC Berkeley in the fall, was presented with the Wilson scholarship. “I have a lot of goals in my life and I’m so grateful to have so many opportunities that are allowing me to have these dreams,” she told Rotary’s Leah Hecker, “and I’m very grateful for everyone who’s ever helped me in any way.”
Doug Wilson, sponsor of the Wilson scholarship, called helping these college-bound students “absolutely incredible. I was moved by literally every one of them,” he said.
Kazimir Kenton, a senior at Legacy High School planning to attend Ventura College this fall, was presented with a $2,000 Rotary Career Technical Education scholarship. “It makes me want to push myself — to go to college, get my business degree and use the opportunity,” he told Hecker.
Funding for the scholarships comes from investment of Rotary’s endowment and from donations from club members and the community.
Established in 1991, the Educational Foundation expanded a scholarship program that for several decades provided scholarship assistance for Ojai students.
In addition to the scholarships, Rotary will spend more than $40,000 this year supporting youth, vocational, community and international services, providing a total of $202,000 in direct charitable support.
Recipients of the 2025 college scholarships are:
Armand and Florence Amado Memorial Scholarship: Dante Shevchuk – Nordhoff High School
Bjornstedt Family Trust Scholarship: Uriel Covarrubias – Nordhoff High School
Canterbury-McCurley Memorial Scholarship: Ingrid Callahan – Nordhoff High School
Canterbury-McCurley Career and Technical Education Scholarship: Pablo Espana – Nordhoff High School
Robert E. Chesley Memorial Scholarship: Kimberly Hernandez – Nordhoff High School
Ted Fauvre Memorial Scholarship: Cynthia Fregoso – Nordhoff High School
Frank and Maudette Finck Scholarship: Matthew Bustamante – Nordhoff High School
Friend’s Family Scholarship: Jayleen Garrett – Nordhoff High School
Father Glynn Memorial Scholarship: Paola Carranza – Villanova Preparatory School
Thomas George Hall and Judith Margaret Higginbotham Memorial Scholarship: Leslie Ruiz – Nordhoff High School
Terry J. Hanrahan Memorial Scholarship: Zayra Lupercio – Nordhoff High School
Dana Huffman Memorial Scholarship: Oeser Jamyang – Nordhoff High School
Carl Huntsinger Career and Technical Education Scholarship: Skylar Magill – Legacy High School
Godfrey and Jeanette and Allan Jacobs Memorial Scholarship: Julieta Ramirez – Nordhoff High School
Dr. Youssef and Patricia Mawardi Career and Technical Education Scholarship: Crystal Ramirez – Nordhoff High School
Eleanor Rupp Memorial Scholarship: Daniela Van Winkle – Nordhoff High School
Alice Skankey Service Above Self Scholarship: Kirra Fink – Nordhoff High School
Shari Skinner Memorial Scholarship: Pako Rilling – Oak Grove School
Thacher Family Scholarship: Cayden Budlong – Nordhoff High School
John and Ginger Wilson Scholarship: Arianna Macias – Oak Grove School
Rotary General College Scholarships: Bernadette Guardado – Villanova Preparatory School; Serena Aparicio – Nordhoff High School
Rotary General Career and Technical Scholarships: Gabriella Calderon-Moreno – Legacy High School; Kazimir Kenton – Legacy High School
Senior Reporter
{{description}}
Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.
Your comment has been submitted.
Reported
There was a problem reporting this.
Log In
OVN-VCSUN subscriber comments
Your post will appear once it is approved by a moderator. Your screen name must be your real name. (Update in your "profile" settings.) We reserve the right to decline any comment that fails to meet basic tenets of civil discourse. Ojai Media LLC is not responsible for the content of any comments posted.
Contact us team@ojaivalleynews.com, team@venturacountysun.com, 805-646-1476
Be Proactive: Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us: Thank you for adding to our community's conversation.
Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to read or post comments.
One subscription gets you full access to the Ojai Valley News | Ventura County Sun coverage daily online, weekly in print and when it breaks. Included is the E-Edition, news alerts, newsletters, and OVN archives. Subscribe today for as little as $1.12 per week. Thank you for supporting local independent accurate, fact-based, unbiased reporting in Ventura County.
View archived e-Editions of Ojai Valley News.
Your browser is out of date and potentially vulnerable to security risks.
We recommend switching to one of the following browsers:
Sorry, an error occurred.
Already Subscribed!
Cancel anytime
Account processing issue – the email address may already exist
Subscriber digital copy of Friday’s newspaper, delivered Thursday night
Latest News, Mondays and Tuesdays
News when it Breaks
Latest VC Headlines and Culture
Weekly with a comment option
Thank you .
Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.
Check your email for details.
Invalid password or account does not exist
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account.
No promotional rates found.
Secure & Encrypted
Secure transaction. Secure transaction. Cancel anytime.
Thank you.
Your gift purchase was successful! Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.
A receipt was sent to your email.
