What stops a curious kid from a STEM career usually isn’t the science.
Four days at the Academy can change what a 7th grader believes is possible for them. Five years later, the cost of a degree can quietly take it back. The Scholarship Fund exists to close that gap for one student from every Academy class.
Our students leave motivated. We would rather they didn’t leave it there.
Every student who comes to the Academy is nominated by their school and sponsored by a Rotary club. Nobody’s family pays for the week — and that is deliberate, because the students we most want in the room are often the ones for whom a fee would have settled the question.
The same logic applies five years later. Financial barriers can stop a motivated student from seriously considering a STEM degree at all. The fund takes that obstacle off the table for one of them each year.
One award, one class, judged by people who do this for a living
An Academy alum
One post-secondary scholarship is awarded to a deserving student from each Academy class.
Achievement and need
Selection weighs high school STEM achievement alongside demonstrated financial need.
A STEM major, maintained
Recipients major in a STEM field and maintain academic excellence to hold the award.
A 501(c)(3) foundation
Funds are administered by the Allentown West Rotary Foundation, a registered non-profit.
Put a name on one student’s first tuition bill.
Gifts to the Scholarship Fund are tax-free and held separately from the cost of running the Academy. Give online, or send a check — both land in the same place.
Rather fund the week itself?
Direct donations and business sponsorships cover the cost of running the Academy — buses, dorms, labs, meals. Different fund, same students.
A four-day, three-night residential STEM academy for nominated 7th graders, funded by the Rotary Clubs of District 7430 and hosted at Kutztown University. Funds are administered by the Allentown West Rotary Foundation, a registered 501(c)(3).
