Pictured (left to right) are Bob and Joyce Berletich, grandparents of the Rotary Scholarship Winner Joshua Berletich, Berletich and Bonnie Prisk, Scholarship Committee Chair for Putnam Rotary.

July 10, 2007

Joshua Townsend Berletich, a May graduate of Winfield High, is headed to Wheeling Jesuit University as the first scholar endorsed by Putnam Rotary's new scholarship program.

Present with Jushua today at the weekly luncheon meeting of Rotary at Sleepy Hollow Country Club were his grandparents, Bob and Joyce Berletich, who make a home for Joshua and two cousins in Scott Depot.

A member of the Catholic Church of the Ascension and Forrest Burdette United Methodist Church in Hurricane, Joshua has been active with vacation Bible school programs, Christ's Kitchen the Community Cupboard, and Reach Workcamps.

Already accepted into the four-year nursing program at Wheeling Jesuit, Jason follows in the footsteps of his grandmother and great-grandmother who were health-care professionals. His mother had been training to become a health-care worker when she passed away last August. Says Joshua, these people "taught me to care for others and I truly believe that nursing and caring for others with kindness and compassion is what I have been called to do."

Joshua is a member of the varsity cross-country team at Winfield. "He participated for three years and was well-liked and well-respected among his teammates," says teacher John Mike Nichols. "I found him to be dependable, a leader, and a hard worker."

Putnam Rotary has offered scholarship assistance for several years, but the funding had been distributed to the "most valuable all-around" in each high school. These students usually were eligible for other assistance however, and Rotary wanted to concentrate on those not otherwise able to qualify for traditional grants.

Among other requirements, recipients in the new program must be accepted into a West Virginia college or university.

They cannot be related to a Rotarian, and they must show circumstances of special need.

Rotary scholars must report on their academic progress at least twice each year, and the financial support may be extended beyond the original award.