Wenatchee Sunrise Rotary awards $10,000 scholarship to WestSide graduate

WENATCHEE — Lorelei Cumpton was told by everyone that she would never graduate. That was all the way back when she was at Wenatchee High School, a place that proved to be so overwhelming for her — with its extra large student body, bustling schedule, and the demands of being the oldest kid in her family — that she ended up just not going to classes.

But when she transferred to WestSide High School, everything changed. Not only did she come into contact with a counselor that would set her on a path to change her life, she completed the challenge that was set before her an entire year early, graduating last year.

The challenge in question? It’s Wenatchee Sunrise Rotary’s annual Challenge Scholarship Program, an opportunity for up to eight kids in their sophomore year of high school who are at risk of not graduating to be paired with Rotary Club mentors for two years and earn cash incentives of up to $300 per semester: $100 for meeting with the mentors at least twice, $100 for completing several hours of community service, and $100 for earning the credits needed to pass their classes and graduate in the end.

WestSide High School Intervention Counselor Graham Stansbury recommended Lorelei for the program because he saw something more in her than what she’d been able to show before she came to his school. He knew she struggled, but also knew that she wanted to succeed, and just hadn’t sorted out how to make those two things resolve.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a turnaround as huge as what you did, Lorelei,” said Stansbury during the ceremony to present Cumpton with the scholarship she earned. She was a little shy, so Stansbury talked the attendees of the morning’s Sunrise Rotary meeting through the process of the young woman making her way through the program. With the help and guidance of teacher Andrea Danahey Feil of WestSide High School, Cumpton came to embrace the scholarship program, set herself to work completing the requirements, and eventually found the ultimate success: Two full years of free education at Wenatchee Valley College.

“I probably wouldn’t have graduated without Ms. Feil,” Cumpton said. “Anything I needed help with, she helped.” And it was that kind of giving, with Feil looking forward to nothing in return but the satisfaction of Lorelei’s success, that aligned the stars for this young woman. She’s now employed at Ambitions of Washington, doing home health care for people with disabilities.

Because of the scholarship and the work she’s doing, Cumpton chose nursing as the program she wanted to participate in at WVC, and for a group like Rotary — focused on compassion and humanitarian efforts — nothing could be more gratifying. Her mentor, Julie Banken, was on hand to congratulate her as she posed with the giant symbolic certificate for the scholarship, and after the ceremony gravitated toward Lorelei and her best friend Gisele, who she brought along for support. Banken beamed like Cumpton was her own child, and the Rotary message shined on her face: Service Above Self.

Andrew Simpson: 509-433-7626 or andrew@ward.media