A
SSOCIATED
N
EWSPAPERS OF
M
ICHIGAN
P
AGE
7
June 1, 2017
B
ELLEVILLE
- W
ESTLAND
Rotary Club awards
student scholarships
Ten Belleville High School graduates
are a little closer to their chosen profes-
sions thanks to the members of the
Rotary Club of Belleville.
Last week, the Rotary Club presented
10 scholarships of $2,000 each to gradu-
ates of Belleville High School, four were
second-year recipients of the awards
while sixwere first-time club scholarship
winners.
This was the 72ndAnnual Scholarship
Program hosted by the Belleville Rotary
Club who presented the first time finan-
cial awards to 2017 graduates, Kayla
Browning, Angie Peralta, Victoria Perez,
Jennifer Schmidt, Gavin Schultz, and
Sara Stoelton. Renewal scholarships
went to: Jared L. Bellingham, Brandon
Bond, LeahHardy, andKameronOwen.
Club President Mary Jo Suchy offered
welcoming remarks and an overview of
the scope and purpose of the organiza-
tion. Debra Juchartz provided the history
of the club scholarshipprogram, outlined
the proceedings of the evening, and
offered greetings to the numerous local
dignitaries in attendance. Juchartz, who
chaired the club Scholarship Committee,
introduced the featured speaker, John
Douglas Peters, J.D., lawyer, university
professor, author or co-author of 12
books, and artist.
Peters' presentation, directed primari-
ly at the student awardees, stressed the
importance of using their post high
school studies and experiences to contin-
ue to search and explore opportunities to
find the work areas they love. He tied
the success of their efforts to the applica-
tion of four key attributes: Organization,
Discipline, Balance, and Perseverance.
He provided examples of how those
traits helped him through some of his
academic development years, but are
still vital today. Following Peter's talk,
each of the scholarship recipients in
attendance spoke briefly about their
plans and hopes for the future. Bond, a
renewal student, studying overseas, sent
a thank you letter which his father read
to the audience.
Since inception, Belleville Rotary has
awarded $490,000 to Belleville High
School students as part of their scholar-
ship program. This year, as in recent
years, the primary funding source for the
program has been the Charles B. Cozadd
RotaryFoundationwhich assists the club
in the funding or partial funding of many
projects.
Westland residents now have a quick,
convenient way to communicate direct-
ly with city officials through a custom-
brandedmobile application.
Using the new Westland Click and
Fix, a citizen reporting tool powered by
SeeClickFix, citizens can report quality-
of-life issues like potholes, graffiti, ille-
gal dumping, blight and much more,
with photos, descriptions, automatic
geo-location and other information
important to the issue.
Westland is joining a growing and
innovative network of SeeClickFix part-
ner cities in Michigan, including com-
munities like Clawson, Ann Arbor,
Portage, Grand Haven, Detroit and
Roseville.
Wild said this new application is a
demonstration of the city commitment
to citizen engagement, efficiency, trans-
parency and accountability.
With Westland Click and Fix,
Westland citizens can easily report
issues as they occur, receive real-time
updates on progress, and connect with
the city social media platform. The
application is available free of charge
on both the Apple App and Google Play
stores.
With these new tools, Wild said he
wants to engage more citizens, increase
internal efficiency, and add additional
value to the commitment his adminis-
trationhasmade to open government.
“The residents of Westland are our
first line of defense to spot issues
around the city and with this new tool
they can communicate their concerns
quickly and conveniently,” Wild said.
“We are committed to finding new inno-
vations and technologies that allowus to
communicate with the residents effi-
ciently and improve transparency.”
Among the 2017 Belleville Rotary Scholarship recipients are, from left, Kayla Browning,
Sara Stoelton, Victoria Perez, Kameron Owen, Gavin Schultz, Jared Bellingham, Leah
Hardy, Angie Peralta and Jennifer Schmidt. Winner Brandon Bond is not pictured.
Photo Image provided by Timeless Images by Susan, Belleville
Mobile reporting system available
Special guest
State Rep. Robert L. Kosowski
(D-Westland) invited Father
Ken Mazur, a constituent and
pastor from his district, to per-
form the invocation prior to the
Michigan
House
of
Representatives legislative ses-
sion last Thursday. "It was an
honor to have Father Mazur
come to Lansing and perform
the invocation," Kosowski said.
"I want to thank him for deliver-
ing his thoughtful words before
the Legislature. To have him
as my guest during House ses-
sion was truly a privilege."
Mazur is a pastor at Saint
Mary, Cause of Our Joy, a
Catholic church in Westland.
The parish was formed as a
merger of three former parish-
es.
