Last week we learned that two local students have earned prestigious scholarships to pursue post-graduate degrees.
Notice the choice of wording earned which well return to later.
Emily Boyd, of Moran, has her sights on Cal Tech, to pursue studies in chemistry and how to make energy more self-sustaining. Boyd is currently a senior at the University of Kansas.
As a student at Marmaton Valley High School, Emily was named a National Merit Scholar. Last year, she received a Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship to further her studies in science and math.
To afford tuition at the California Institute of Technology, Emily was recently awarded a scholarship from the National Science Foundation.
Clara Wicoff, meanwhile, was recently named a 2019 Harry S. Truman Scholarship winner to further her studies in how public policy can help combat food insecurity in the United States.
Clara is a junior at Kansas State University majoring in agricultural economics with a minor in entomology.
Shes considering Georgetown University, Harvard or the University of Chicago as the next step in her education.
As a student at Iola Middle School, Emily was a perennial state spelling bee champion, making it to the national competition three times.
Both girls were active in high school extracurricular activities and have remained so at the college level.
Both have proved the value of a good education and the doors it can open.
ON SATURDAY, the news broke that Mark Riddell, a Harvard grad, confessed to using his smarts to take college entrance examinations for high school students.
For $10,000 a pop, Riddell, age 36, would forge students names on his exams.
Prosecutors determined Riddell made about $200,000 from the scheme.
Riddell said he was instructed not to ace the exams so that their scores would appear believable.
This is all a part of a bigger scandal where parents have been caught paying third-party players to rig the college entrance process so that their children are admitted to elite schools. Also on the take were test administrators who accepted bribes to turn a blind eye to the cheating as well as college coaches who accepted payments to say the prospective students were recruits for team sports.
