WAUSAU – In 2019, Grace Stanke, a Wausau West High School student, received one of five $1,000 scholarships from The Rotary Club of Wausau and enrolled at University of Wisconsin-Madison. Today, she’s the reigning Miss America and the recipient of a $50,000 scholarship from the Miss America organization.
Stanke, a senior at UW-Madison majoring in nuclear engineering, will speak to the Rotary Club on March 6 to share her four-year journey since leaving Wausau and her thoughts about clean energy. Also in attendance will be 10 local high school seniors being honored by the club as Uthrotors, based on the leadership and volunteerism they have demonstrated.
Stanke, representing her home state of Wisconsin, was crowned Miss America 2023 on Dec. 15, 2022. During the competition, Stanke won the talent portion, performing a piece from “Vivaldi’s Summer/Four Seasons – Storm” on her electric violin.
Each spring, The Rotary Club of Wausau awards $1,000 scholarships to five Wausau metro area high school seniors who have demonstrated outstanding leadership and volunteered many hours of service at their schools and in their communities. Recipients of these scholarships can use them at any accredited, post-secondary educational entity to help further their tertiary education.
Applications for 2023 scholarships are being reviewed now, and scholarships will be awarded at the end of the school year. More information about Rotary Club of Wausau scholarships is available at www.wausaurotary.org.
