SHHS senior Robert Rice will head off to Oregon State University next fall with an extra $7,050 to be used toward a degree in engineering thanks to the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
Rice won the local and district elks scholarships and then earned another $4,000 over four years at the state level during a ceremony held February 15 in Enterprise.
Harlan Smith, youth chair of the Sweet Home Elks Lodge, explained that as district award recipient, Rice competed against six other district winners during the state event.
“These kids are the cream of the crop,” Smith said. “It’s amazing being around them. Each and every one of them is outstanding.”
Nationwide, the Elks budget $3,162 million for five scholarship programs.
The Elks National Foundation distributes some $12.9 million in three key areas: 1. to build a better future by providing tomorrow’s leaders, youth, with a healthy beginning; 2. to honor the Elks pledge to never forget our nation’s veterans; 3. to help the state Elks associations accomplish their charitable objectives.
Rice is the son of Dan and Cindy Rice.
He has an exemplary record of activities at SHHS and in the community, including attaining the rank if Eagle Scout and being named SHHS Junior First Citizen.
In the community, Rice helped organize and implement a canned food drive during Make A Difference Day, was a peer court juror, helped at the Foster School carnival.
He has held numerous leadership positions including Key Club vice president, instructor in an after school program, was a Boy Scout day camp instructor, helped with the Ames Creek project as a crew leader, is a junior deacon at the Holley Christian church and was the freshman football team captain.
Rice’s activities include Boy Scouts, Ames Creek project, Sweet Home Peer Court, Oregon Youth Court Association, track and field, South Santiam Watershed Council, Order of the Arrow, National Honor Society and Husky football player. He also is active with the robotics team.
He has earned numerous awards including Rural Oregon Award of Excellence, Sweet Home Wall of Recognition, Capital Conference academic award, English III honors, American History honors, biology, math II, physical science honors, college prep chemistry, pre-calculus, math III, English II honors, geography honors, English I honors.
Rice has been employed at Rice Logging, served an apprenticeship with Pacific Power and Light and was a stream restoration technician through the Boys and Girls Club.
Rice said the experience was “great! It is good of the Elks to provide this scholarship. We learned that the Elks are second only to the government in amount of scholarship money given each year.”
His mother added, “I was amazed at the young people at the awards banquet. They are of such quality. It provided them with an opportunity to meet people from all walks of life. The kids had a good time and also got to learn about each other because they were responsible for introducing another student instead of themselves.”