The Rotary Club of Key West recently announced a new scholarship that recognizes the public service of Andy Griffiths, who served more than 30 years on the Monroe County School Board and is a dedicated Rotarian. The Andy Griffiths Scholarship will cover the cost of tuition for a Florida Keys student who wants to pursue a career in education.
Griffiths, who recently decided against seeking another term, said he sees the scholarship as a way to help ensure that the schools of Monroe County are staffed by the next generation of locals who can best shape the curriculum and classroom experience.
The Rotary Club will dedicate the proceeds from each year’s Stock Island Lighted Boat Parade to the new Andy Griffiths Scholarship. Griffiths will match the boat parade proceeds each year to fund the scholarship in perpetuity. The matching funds, he said, will come from a trust he established after a property sale years ago.
“My ideal recipient would be someone who knows the community, has a place to live and will go off to college with the idea of becoming a teacher in the Monroe County School District,” Griffiths said. “Someone who needs financial support, and shows good promise as a student who is likely to finish college. I think there’s always going to be a good job market for excellent teachers.”
Future teachers need more autonomy and resources, he said.
“I would like to see teachers have more autonomy in the curriculum of education and less dictation from Tallahassee,” Griffiths said. “Local teachers, I believe, are the best equipped to handle the unique challenges of the local student population. I think the curriculum and assessments can be flexible enough to allow teachers to form their own customized lesson plans. I’m also excited about the use of artificial intelligence to better differentiate instruction among students. Obviously, AI will never replace the teacher, but it is a great tool that could save teachers hundreds of hours. Every student has a different learning style with a unique pace. So, AI could be a huge assistant.”
Rotary was started in Chicago in 1905 by Paul Harris. The idea was to rotate meetings in that city among movers and shakers to solve community issues. Over time the organization evolved to a worldwide movement committed to humanitarian service. Rotary International can take credit for the eradication of polio. There are 46,000 clubs and 1.4 million members globally.
The Key West Rotary Club is over 100 years old. It is most noted for the annual 4th of July fireworks display, local high school scholarships and a student dental health program. The club hosts fundraising projects year-round to finance those scholarships and commitments.
The Florida Keys is home to 10 Rotary clubs, including three in Key West. All of them champion education and provide a variety of scholarships for local high school students who are headed to college, a trade school or a career certification.
