Rotary Club offering the world in memory of Karen Price

As another school year starts without the contagious enthusiasm of Karen Price at Skaneateles High School, the Skaneateles Rotary Club is offering a scholarship in her memory.

The Skaneateles Rotary Club’s Youth Exchange Scholarship in Memory of Karen Price was created to encourage local students to explore the world.

Club members worked to create the scholarship as a way of memorializing Price, a Rotarian and school district employee, and her contributions to the club, the school, and the community.

Price died in January, 2023, at age 61.

Price, who for most of her career was a teacher aid in charge of senior study hall, is remembered for the warmth and enthusiasm she exuded while leading students in community service projects, largely through the high school’s Interact Club, an arm of Rotary.

Projects included the American Red Cross Blood Drive, Haunted Hallways, the Giving Tree and Shelter Box.

She also worked with outbound and inbound exchange students and ran the club’s STEP (summer) exchange program for many years.

She “adopted” youth exchange students who came to Skaneateles from around the world, and offered the same caring and enthusiasm to Skaneateles students in her study halls and in the Interact Club.

The scholarship will be awarded to qualifying outbound Skaneateles youth exchange students who need help defraying the cost of participating in a year abroad.

In the coming weeks, Rotarian Lee Bennett, longtime Youth Exchange Officer with the Skaneateles Rotary Club, will work with students who are interested in going abroad next year.

Those students will be offered the opportunity to apply for the scholarship.

Rotary Youth Exchange is a yearlong cultural exchange for students ages 15-19.

It gives students the chance to live and study abroad while immersing themselves in another culture.

To learn more visit Rotary District 7180 – Rotary Youth Exchange at cny7180youthexchange.org.

To ask questions about the local application process, or the merit-and-need based scholarship, contact Lee Bennett at 315-730-4000.

There are important application deadlines in the fall.

To donate to the fund, make checks out to the Skaneateles Rotary Foundation, with Karen Price Memorial Scholarship Fund in the memo, PO Box 316, Skaneateles, NY 13152.