Two Judge Memorial students receive Rotary Club scholarships for their exemplary service

Friday, Jun. 12, 2015

SALT LAKE CITY — The Salt Lake Rotary Club recognized Judge Memorial Catholic High School seniors Gabrielle Paul and Allison Witte with the spring 2015 “Service Above Self” scholarship.

The $2,000 scholarships recognize high school seniors at public, private and charter schools in the Salt Lake School District who exemplify service in their lives; this year, the Rotary Club awarded $42,000 to 23 high school seniors from nine schools.

Whenever JMCHS students are interviewed for a scholarship, “we find them exceptional, not only in academics and athletics, but also in service,” said Safia Keller, co-chair of the Rotary Club Youth Scholarship program. “They have a sense of helping those who are less fortunate. I don’t know if that comes from how they are raised, or as a result of going to Judge, or a combination of the two, but it’s truly remarkable. They have high grade point averages, they play sports, they mentor and the list goes on; I wonder how they find the time. They are always incredibly polite and very well spoken.”

Paul, who also was chosen as a speaker during the Rotary Club Youth Scholarship Awards luncheon held at the Sheraton Hotel May 5, was on the varsity tennis team and ran varsity track her freshman through junior years. In addition, she was a member of the Dance Company and the Environmental Club. She has received many awards and certificates, and interned at the Lassonde Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Utah. Paul then started a non-profit organization to provide services for children with autism; she also volunteered many hours in the community and the Children’s Center for children with autism.

Paul’s long-range career goal is social entrepreneurship. “I want to build on the venture I have already started and positively impact even more lives affected with autism and other developmental disorders,” said Paul, who will attend Duke University in the fall. 

Witte volunteered eight hours each week at the Salt Lake County Department of Health her senior year, primarily speaking Spanish. “It taught me some valuable skills such as taking directions, solving problems and communicating across language barriers,” Witte said. 

Witte was the captain of the JMCHS swim team her junior and senior years, a top finisher in the 2014 state swim meet, a peer tutor, a National Honor Society member and she won a National Merit Scholarship program letter of commendation her senior year for completing at least 120 service hours. She was an AP Scholar with Distinction her junior year. Witte’s long-range career goal is to be a biomedical engineer in global health; she has been accepted to the University of Washington in Seattle.

She decided to study biomedical engineering after volunteering with Amigos de las Americas’ summer program in Panama for seven weeks prior to her junior year.

“I stayed with a host family in a small, rural town of about 250 people, and lived in a two-bedroom house with a family of six without indoor plumbing, and spoke only Spanish,” Witte said. “I showered in a waterfall in the backyard.” 

Witte and her partner worked in a school on an environmental conservation/personal health initiative teaching topics such as clean water and deforestation. The overarching theme was to inspire youth leadership. 

“I think we were successful because I receive feedback from some of the youth leaders on Facebook about what we taught them,” Witte said. 

Witte learned from the people in Panama that “it doesn’t take a lot to be happy,” she said. “They raise beautiful, smart children without many resources.”