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James Roland Markos, 2013 Rosalind P. Walter Scholarship recipient
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There are a few women known as being one of the “Real” Rosies. Of these few is a woman named Rosalind P. Walter. Rosalind was from Long Island and worked the night shift building F4U aircraft machines. Walter became the inspiration for the song “Rosie the Riveter” by Redd Evans and John Jacob Loeb, where the character “Rosie the Riveter” first came to life in 1942.
After the war, Walter left the factory and went on to become a local philanthropist and trustee at Long Island State University. In 2011, the USTA Serves Rosalind P. Walter College Scholarship was named in her honor. She has been an active member of the USTA Serves Board of Directors since its inception and is responsible for funding the very first USTA Serves college scholarship. She’s been an active member ever since.
Each year the Rosalind P. Walter scholarship is available to one male and one female high-academic achieving student of good character who is entering a four-year college or university program. These recipients share Walter’s belief in always putting forth one’s best effort and giving back to one’s community to make it a better place.
This first scholarship recipient stands by the belief that one person truly can make a difference. Lauren Howe-Kerr is a high-achieving student-athlete with even higher ambitions. She has a weighted GPA of 4.71 and is ranked number one in her class of 275. She is participates on her school’s varsity tennis and cross country team as well as numerous other extracurricular activities. Howe-Kerr is on the National Honor Society, the Honor Roll, a National Merit Finalist and Valedictorian candidate.
But Howe-Kerr’s success goes far past the classroom. She participates in the Green Cross International which is involved with local environmental issues and along with several of her classmates, she organized and ran a local tennis tournament entitled “Love All” to raise money for the Global Hunger Project, partnering with Pueblo Parks & Rec.
“This was not only a fun event to bring the community together,” says Howe-Kerr, “but also an opportunity to address the worldwide challenge of helping to end hunger.”
Howe-Kerr is very interested in the sciences and plans to major in chemistry in college and eventually become a research scientist. She is currently enrolled as a freshman at Rice University.
The next scholarship recipient really knows the true meaning of hard-work. With the change in his family’s economic status, this student-athlete had to pick up several jobs.
“After my father suffered congestive heart failure, our financial situation changed drastically when he lost his business,” says James-Roland Markos, “There would be no more tennis lessons or clinics or tournaments.”
Markos’ list of jobs included an assistant position to the head Pro at the Jackson Country Club, CARE Janitorial, Markos Lawn Care (which he founded) and PAL basketball referee. Amongst all of these responsibilities, Markos still found time to maintain both his academics and his athletics with an excellent weighted GPA of 4.13 and USTA Sectional and National rankings. He’s been awarded a sportsmanship award, a youth leadership award and is a part of the National Honor Society. With his high GPA, SAT and ACT scores, Markos looks forward to attending the University of Mississippi to study Biomedical Engineering.
We commend these student-athletes on all their hard work and dedication to themselves, their families and their communities. USTA Serves would like to thank these recipients for setting an example and Rosalind P. Walter’s commitment to tennis and education.