KU News Release

March 25, 2009
Contact: Jennifer Jackson Sanner, KU Alumni Association, (785) 864-4760.

KU to honor 44 high school seniors from nine counties; Colby couple to get award

LAWRENCE — Students from 15 Kansas high schools will be honored Wednesday, April 8, by the University of Kansas Alumni Association and KU Endowment.

A total of 44 seniors from high schools in Cheyenne, Decatur, Gove, Logan, Rawlins, Sheridan, Sherman, Thomas and Wallace counties will be recognized for their academic achievements and named Kansas Honor Scholars at a 6:30 p.m. (Mountain Time) dinner and program at Elk Lodge, 1523 Arcade St., Goodland.

In addition, Paul and Sharon Steele of Colby will receive the Mildred Clodfelter Alumni Award.

The Kansas Honors Program began in 1971 and has honored more than 100,000 students. Scholars rank in the top 10 percent of their high school senior classes and are selected regardless of curricula, majors, occupational plans or higher-education goals.

During the ceremony, each student will receive an American Heritage Dictionary in hardback and CD versions, presented by Heath Peterson, director of Kansas programs for the alumni association.

William J. Crowe, special assistant to the dean of libraries, will speak to the students and their parents and guests.

Honored students will be guests of the alumni association and KU Endowment; parents and area alumni are welcome to attend at a cost of $10 each.

Community volunteers collect reservations, coordinate details and serve as local contacts for the event. Jeff and Nona Mason, Goodland, will be site coordinators. Mike and Brenda Day, St. Francis, will be coordinators for Cheyenne County. Wade Park, Oakley, will be Gove, Logan and Sheridan counties’ coordinator. Charles and Connie Peckham, Atwood, will be Rawlins County coordinators. Kurt Vollertsen, Oberlin, will be Decatur County coordinator. The Steeles will be Thomas and Wallace counties’ coordinators.

Peterson will present the Steeles, both KU alumni, with the Mildred Clodfelter Alumni Award for their years of service on behalf of the university.

The award, created in 1986 by the alumni association, honors volunteers who serve as KU ambassadors in their home communities. The award is named for Clodfelter, who received a bachelor’s degree in 1941 from KU and worked at KU for 47 years, 42 of them at the alumni association. Clodfelter, known to countless Jayhawks nationwide, retired in 1986 and died in 2005.

The Kansas Honors Program is made possible through KU Endowment and proceeds from the Jayhawk license plate program.

Honorees are listed below by high school.

Brewster High School: Brittany Kammer

Cheylin High School: Sydney Busse

Colby High School: Lauren Bethell, Jeremy Harter, Kiri Kendrick, Brittany Schuette, Lindsey Wilson, Quinnlyn Woofter, Taylor Young and Garrett Zweygardt

Decatur Community High School: Jay Wessel, Chris Larson, Nathan Simonsson and Alyssa Rippe

Golden Plains High School: Tate Bruggeman and Tanner Moss

Goodland High School: Brennen Clouse, Kaitlin Fugleberg, Chelsie Gausman, Taylor McLemore, Tanner Oharah, Devin Mangus and Danielle Pettibone

Hoxie High School: Trisha Goetz, Amanda Heim and Katelin Neuenschwander

Oakley High School: Jordan Albers and Lindsay Hoff

Quinter High School: Luke Ochs, Shana Burgess and Lance Thielen

Rawlins County High School: Mark Bohme, Keegan Peckham and Leah Sharp

St. Francis Community High School: Courtney Douthit, Cara Hunt, Sam Sowers and Kim Voeller

Triplains High School: Hannah Moorhous and Rachael Smith

Wallace County High School: Lauren Elder and Audra Kuhlmar

Weskan High School: Sheena Sexson

Wheatland High School: Jennifer Hartman and Heather Beougher

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