Sharing their experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on their lives was the topic of the Lima Exchange Club's “Youth of the Year” scholarship essays.
Monday, the nine winners representing schools in the Lima area were introduced at the club's weekly meeting. Each received a $200 scholarship from the club. The overall winner is Dalton Hahn from Lima Senior High School. He received an additional $500 scholarship and read his winning essay.
Dalton Hahn added, “The prompt that I was given kind of made me put into perspective how the pandemic actually affected me. How it really changed my life personally, my outlook on the world. So, my perception of time, prioritize whatever it might be, and yeah, it really just put everything into perspective.”
Mike Mullen, Lima Exchange Club Secretary says, “I personally read all of the essays before we gave them to the group that graded them. It just really took me aback, the impact that the COVID had on all the students in various different ways, and shapes, and forms.”
Here are the top 9-students picked by their respective schools to be the Exchange Club's “Youth of the Year“ for 2022.
Allen East – Ethan Kahle
Apollo – Aidrien Gable
Bath – Caiden Bush
Elida – Jacob Hadding
LCC – Carrie Heider
Lima Senior – Dalton Hahn
Lima Temple Christian – Maddy Anderson
Perry - Nicole Pryor
Shawnee - Ashley Eitmontas
Hahn will now go on to compete for a $1,000 scholarship at the Exchange Club’s Ohio – West Virginia District Convention in May. You can visit the Lima Exchange Club's Facebook page to see pictures from the event.
