KU News Release

LAWRENCE — Students from six Kansas high schools and two alumni from Great Bend will be honored Thursday, Feb. 11, by the University of Kansas Alumni Association and KU Endowment.

A total of 40 seniors from high schools in Barton and Rush counties will be recognized for their academic achievements and named Kansas Honor Scholars at a 6:30 p.m. dinner program at the Club at Stoneridge, 1438 24th St., Great Bend.

KU alumni volunteers Perry and Krista Smith, of Great Bend, will receive a Mildred Clodfelter Alumni Award in recognition of longtime support of the Kansas Honors Program.

The Kansas Honors Program began in 1971 and has honored more than 107,000 students. Scholars rank in the top 10 percent of their high school senior classes and are selected regardless of occupational plans or higher-education goals. Honorees are listed below.

During the ceremony, each student will receive an American Heritage Dictionary, in both hardback and electronic versions, presented by Mike Davis, senior vice president of alumni programs for the KU 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 $15 each.

Community volunteers collect reservations, coordinate details and serve as local contacts for the event. Bill and Mary King, Great Bend, will be the site coordinators. Perry and Krista Smith are Barton County coordinators. Richard Barrows, LaCrosse, is the Rush County coordinator.

The Mildred Clodfelter Alumni 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 passed away in 2005.

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

Claflin High School: Emily Beran, Devin Hoffman and Cindy Stueder

Ellinwood High School: Ethan Linden, Brett Lyman, Kelsey Menges, Katie Morgenstern and Ashley Oglesbee

Great Bend High School: Devan Boeger, Jordyn Buntain, Matthew Dobratz, Beth Elliott, Delaney Fish, Alex Hartig, Jeffrey Hipp, Kayci Huslig, Kortney Jacobs, Katelyn Kaiser, Logan Marshall, Keegan McCulley, Brett McManaman, Israel Mendoza, Damon Rea, Edith Reza, Micca Schneider, Kristopher Southard, Julie Stoss, David Tomlin and Connor Williams

Hoisington High School: Sarah Kaiser, Rebecca Maier, Jared Owen, Danton Riedl, Luke Warnken and Jayci Wyant

La Crosse High School: Leah Baus, Ashley Parrott and Emily Swartz

Otis-Bison High School: Jesse Flax and Kevin Wissman