EC Rotary awards $25,100 in scholarships to 11 students

The Elizabeth City Rotary Club distributed more than $25,000 in college scholarships to 11 area high school graduating seniors earlier this week.

Jessica Neal, a senior at Camden County High School, received the Elizabeth City Rotary Club Memorial Scholarship valued at $2,500. Since the 1930s, the scholarship has been funded through Rotary Club member contributions.

Amaya Demps, of Camden County High School, and Robert Volpe, of the Northeast Academy for Aerospace and Advanced Technologies, received the Maud & Horace Reid Scholarship valued at $2,500. According to the Rotary Club, Pete Reid established the scholarship in 1991 in the name of his parents, Maud and Horace Reid, by donating two pieces of land to Rotary that were then sold to Pasquotank County.

Ciara Mitchell, of Camden County Early College High School, and Denise Drummond, of NEAAAT, received the Miles Clark Memorial Scholarship valued at $2,500. The scholarship was started in 1966 with a gift from the estate of Miles Clark, a local businessman who was a benefactor of numerous causes, particularly the Elizabeth City High School Band.

Avery Otts, of the North Carolina School of Science and Math; Gavin White, of NEAAAT; and Zoe Connell, of The Albemarle School, received the $2,500 Thornton Little Scholarship. In 1981, the families of Tim Thornton and George Little set up the scholarship fund in the wake of a tragic airplane crash, funding it with cash and shares of stock.

Faith Underwood, of Camden County High School, received the William G. Gaither Scholarship valued at $2,500. Gaither bequeathed a sum of money to set up the scholarship in 1980. A year later, he bequeathed a similar amount from his wife’s estate. The scholarship is awarded to students who plan to major in business while in college.

James Gantt, of Camden County High School, received the A.B. Houtz and Jeanette Houtz Mast Scholarship, which is valued at $2,500. In 1968, Houtz and Houtz Mast created a scholarship fund with gifts of various stocks. They asked that the scholarship be awarded to students who plan to major in music while in college. It has also been awarded to students who have shown strong dedication to music in high school.

Noah Blount, of Camden County High School, received the Supporting Local Universities Scholarship award, valued at $1,000. The Rotary Club established the scholarship in 2020 in recognition of the importance of local universities. This scholarship can be used to attend College of The Albemarle, Mid-Atlantic Christian University or Elizabeth City State University.