Senior Jesse Taylor walked away with some of the biggest prizes of the night when Iola High School and community leaders handed out scholarships and awards during a ceremony on Wednesday evening.
Taylor received several local, state and national honors, including a full-ride scholarship to Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, to continue a family tradition as part of a “legacy” scholarship.
He received the Governor’s Scholar Award for having the highest grade point average and highest ACT score in his class. On the ACT, Taylor earned a 35 out of a possible 36.
Taylor also was named a Commended Student in the 2023 National Merit Scholarship Program, one of 34,000 such students recognized across the nation.
IHS STUDENTS earned more than $222,779 in scholarships and awards this year.
That doesn’t include the value of Taylor’s BYU scholarship or a full-ride baseball scholarship issued to Jarrett Herrmann to attend Cowley County Community College. A few other amounts weren’t known and are not included in the total. Kelsey Johnson, IHS counselor, said.
AWARDS follow. Most were presented by Principal Scott Carson or Johnson, unless otherwise noted:
McFadden Scholarship: Travis Wanker
American Legion Auxiliary Scholarship: Jarrett Herrmann
Hugh A. Smith Scholarship, Kansas American Legion, $500: Travis Wanker
Chapter L PEO Award, presented by Karen Gilpin: Hallie McDermeit
Edward B. Zahn FFA Scholarship Trust, presented by Richard Zahn: Cody Wille, Carly Dreher, Jadyn Kaufman
Iola NEA Scholarship, $500, presented by Travis Hermstein: Kinzey Wilhelm
Lester Barrett and Clarice Whitehill King Scholarship, $500, presented by Masons Curtis Utley and Danny Ware: Conor Andres
Kansas Elks Association Scholarship, $1,000: Jesse Taylor
