scholarships
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previous winners of the K-State Civic Leadership Scholarship
Each year a committee of campus and community representatives works to evaluate applications to find outstanding examples of civic leadership by high school seniors. Following is a list of previous recipients.
2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009
2009 winners
First place recipient - Eli Logan – Manhattan, KS
Eli wanted his Eagle Scout project to recognize Riley County’s history, government, and community. To do this he oversaw the erection of a stone monument detailing the history of the Riley County Courthouse. Eli provided leadership by supervising 20 of his fellow scouts while they prepared and landscaped the area. The monument now informs those passing by the courthouse of its history and architectural significance. This monument has inspired the City Historic Resources Board to continue recognizing Riley County’s history by erecting similar monuments throughout the city.
Second place recipient - Alana Rhone – Texarkana, TX
Alana wanted to empower citizens in her community for the 2008 election. She took voter education training and volunteered at the local Democrat and Republican headquarters. With this knowledge, Alana spread the word about the importance of voting and making an informed decision. She assembled a group of twelve volunteers to help register voters and disseminate sample ballots to educate voters on the candidates. Alana’s efforts resulted in a much higher voter turnout than in past years. She hopes to continue to be involved in the political process as she studies Political Science or International Affairs in college.
Third place recipient - Allison Straub – Hays, KS
Allison co-chaired an effort to bring funds and awareness to the Ronald McDonald Houses in Wichita. Initially, Allison coordinated a Monopoly tournament fundraiser held at the local McDonald’s. Over $1,000 was raised for the Houses through donations from local businesses. Allison raised awareness of the Houses and motivated the community by personally conducting radio and television interviews to encourage individuals to save pull tabs. Over two million pull tabs were collected equaling almost $1,300 that was donated to the Houses. Both of these donations allowed one family to stay 240 nights at the Houses free of charge. Allison’s at large communication has raised awareness in local businesses to the Hays Medical Center and plans are underway for future projects.
2008 winners
First place recipient - Mark Sowers – Spring Hill, KS
Mark has found a way to apply the leadership skills he has gained through 4-H and his church youth group. As a member of the Spring Hill Sesquicentennial Committee, Mark’s role is to represent the younger members of the community in the planning of celebration events for this major community milestone. He has helped with fundraising efforts and initiated an art and essay contest to involve grade school, middle school, and high school aged students. An art show was hosted to showcase the work of the community’s youngest members. He is also participating as a student stakeholder in evaluating the thirty-year land use plan for Spring Hill, a rapidly growing community.
Second place recipient - Cameron McGuire – Gardner, KS
Cameron created a photography service organization, PediaPix (Pediatrics + Photography). The goal of his organization is to place photos taken by kids for kids in pediatric areas of hospitals and clinics to help ease the anxieties of going to see a doctor. He presented the idea to hospital administrators, established logistics for soliciting and organizing submissions, and coordinated the selection of photos from the nearly 200 entries. He served as the liaison as he worked with hospital staff and youth photographers to plan meetings and set deadlines. The future of this initiative includes adding to the collection and rotating the art throughout the clinic.
Third place recipient - Sydney LeSage – Pretty Prairie, KS
As the organizer and manager of the first Cash and Cans Junior Golf Tournament, Sydney wanted to create a fundraiser to benefit the Pretty Prairie Food Bank. She proposed hosting a junior golf tournament to a local golf course manger, created rules for the tournament, and advertised for youth golfers by posting flyers and writing an article in the local newspaper. The tournament hosted 37 participants and generated 385 cans and $400 in donations. The food donation represents 30% of the food to be distributed by the food bank this year and the organization was able to purchase perishable food and gas vouchers for the first time with the cash donation.
Special award - Nicole Stieben – Bazine, KS
Since her high school consolidated with a school forty-five minutes away, Nicole recognized an important need within her student body. It was suddenly difficult for students to receive help from teachers because of the commute between students’ homes and their new high school. She provided leadership in meeting the need by organizing a before and after school program for students who need extra help outside the classroom. Students in need of tutoring contact Nicole who arranges a session with a peer tutor. She is able to create opportunities for many students to receive the academic help they need and to coordinate times for even the most involved student in her school.
2007 winners
First place recipient - Kyle Merklein – Prairie View, KS
Kyle’s project involves serving as the only youth representative on the Discover Phillips County Steering Committee. He has participated in a variety of efforts to improve the quality of life in each of the seven towns in his county. His leadership has been instrumental in planning the county-wide clean up in March of 2007. He has assembled a labor force to provide assistance to the elderly and individuals with disabilities in the beautification effort. Kyle has also used his passion for running to help others by collecting pledges to run 30 miles across the county to raise funds for the Phillips County Ministerial Alliance. He is committed to building pride in his community and engaging others to help keep the county vibrant in an effort to attract businesses and new residents. He believes that everyone has a gift that can be used for service.
Second place recipient - Carrie Dotson – Andover, KS
Carrie is actively involved in the Just About Kids Foundation, a group she helped establish. JAK is a non-profit charitable organization run by high school students. One specific area of emphasis is helping to raise money for abused and neglected children’s charities around the Wichita area. She participated in the planning and completion of the JAK 5k/1mile run and a car giveaway. Through the benefit run, Carrie has helped her group to raise $15,000 for these charities. She also helps to spread the word about the seriousness of the issue of child abuse and neglect. Wichita has several very high poverty areas and Carrie says many people are surprised to learn the extent of child abuse in Kansas and even in the small community of Andover. She realizes that she was fortunate enough to grow up in a safe environment and she wants to help provide that same environment for less fortunate children.
Third place recipient - Jacqueline Johnson – Overland Park, KS
It is a great thing to show others how exciting learning can be; Jacqueline is doing just that. She is the president of the Faraday Society, a group of students who perform theater science demonstrations for the community by presenting complex chemistry and physics concepts in a simplified and easily accessible way. The troupe has performed for thousands of people at elementary schools, banquets, science teacher conferences, science fairs and community events. Jacqueline receives letters after their performances from elementary aged students expressing their new-found interest in science and how they want to grow up to be scientists, too. She views community service as an opportunity rather than a responsibility, and sharing her passion for science is just one of the many opportunities she has.
2006 winners
First place recipient - Maria Mai – Salina, KS
Maria has been very involved with Saline County Relay for Life all throughout high school. Her freshman year, she was a team captain and created a team for the Saline County Relay for Life. The following year, she also joined the Relay for Life committee and was in charge of team recruitment for the entire Youth Relay for Life. Her junior year, Maria became a co-chair for Youth Relay for Life where she had the responsibility of looking over a selected amount of high schools and overseeing the committees. As a senior, she is now the chair of the entire Saline County Relay for Life. Maria organizes meetings and plans events for the committee. Her main goal is to help raise funds for cancer research. Maria plans to continue her involvement with Relay for Life in college by becoming a team captain and joining the planning committee.
Second place recipient - Mike Feldhausen – Frankfort, KS
Mike was a full time youth volunteer coordinator for the local recycling program in his community. When the adult volunteer coordinator resigned, Mike took over the majority of the coordinator duties. He ensured that a notice would be placed in the local paper a week in advance and also ensured that a trailer would be supplied by the county recycling program to be emptied monthly. Mike started the recycling program at school to make people more aware of all the materials that can be recycled and to show them how to help with the environment. Mike’s leadership ability saved the Frankfort recycling program from closing and has continued to get more families involved in the program.
Third place recipient - Ryan Roberts – Pomona, KS
Ryan raised, trained, and socialized four dogs for the CARES, Inc. organization. CARES, located in Concordia, Kansas, provides service dogs to individuals from all over the world. Ryan’s responsibility was to take the puppies and housebreak them, teach them basic commands, love them, and most importantly, get them accustomed to being around people in various social situations. Ryan wanted to use his training skills to benefit others by improving their quality of life. He exposed the dogs to as many social activities as he could to prepare them to serve their new owners in any capacity. All four of the dogs Ryan trained are now serving their owners or the general public in some way.