The Frankford-Northeast Philadelphia Rotary Club and the Northeast Times recently honored five local high school seniors with college scholarships.
The Rotary Club, which meets every Tuesday afternoon from 12:15 to 1:30 at Cannstatter’s, at 9130 Academy Road, presented scholarship awards to Northeast’s Olga Bohush, Abraham Lincoln’s Geethu-Robert Pallikkathayil and St. Hubert’s Ashley Hero and Teresa Kozin.
The Times recognized Father Judge’s Shawn Walls.
Bohush, a native of Belarus, has lived in the United States for six years. She graduated from the Farrell Elementary School before enrolling at Northeast. She tutors fellow students born in other countries and participated in a multicultural show. She’ll attend Community College of Philadelphia and hopes to eventually study business or pharmacy.
Pallikkathayil, a native of India, has lived in the United States for four years. She is a member of the National Honor Society, student council and the bowling, badminton and field hockey teams. She joined other students in delivering Christmas presents to residents of a local nursing home. She will attend Penn State to study criminal justice, with hopes of joining the FBI.
Hero attended Resurrection of Our Lord before St. Hubert. She is president of the school chorus and led fellow students in singing Christmas carols for the patients and staff of Nazareth Hospital. She also has taken part in a walk for breast-cancer awareness. She’ll attend Neumann University in Aston, Pa., and is considering majoring in biomedical engineering.
Kozin also is a Resurrection graduate and will attend Neumann, studying arts and theater production. She is a member of the school Irish Club, orchestra, wind ensemble and choir, and she was captain of the swimming team. She also worked at Camp COLEY, a summer opportunity for boys and girls ages 8–18.
Walls is secretary of the student council, a member of the National Honor Society, editor-in-chief of the yearbook, captain of the swimming team and a mentor for the swimming team at his alma mater, St. Matthew. As a member of the football team, he helped repaint Lincoln’s Barfoot Bowl. He took part in a homeless night out and Operation Santa Claus, delivering Christmas presents to homeless and needy kids. He’ll attend the University of Pittsburgh and major in mechanical engineering.
Also at the May 24 meeting, guest speaker Tyler Urzi spoke about the importance of nutrition and exercise.
“Those benefits multiply when combined together,” he said.
Urzi, who has bachelor’s and master’s degrees from West Chester University, is a fitness trainer, nutrition counselor, sports performance coach and certified strength and conditioning coach. He believes a focus on nutrition might be more beneficial because of the cancers and diseases that can be caused, in part, by a poor diet.
“The sooner you start changing habits, the sooner you become healthy,” he said.
Proper nutrition helped Urzi, 27, win a recent bodybuilding competition in the lightweight class. It was his first competition, and he spent 12 weeks preparing. By winning, he qualified for another competition in July.
Urzi urged the scholarship award winners and the Rotary Club members to eat the right things at the right time of day and in portions. People should consume a source of nutrients five or six times per day, allowing two to four hours between each eating.
As you’d expect, he’s a big fan of vegetables. “You can eat as many veggies as your little heart desires,” he said. ••
Reporter Tom Waring can be reached at 215–354–3034 or [email protected]
