Charles City seniors receive community scholarships
By Thomas Nelson, tnelson@charlescitypress.com
More than $82,000 worth of scholarships were handed out Wednesday, May 17, at the North Grand Building to Charles City High School seniors.
More than 100 different scholarships were given out out to students during the ceremony with cheers erupting from the crowd after each one was announced.
Scholarship amounts ranged from $250 to the largest, a $20,000 award given to Madison Davis.
There was a little preamble to the event. A storm moving through the area caused high school Principal Josh Johnson to explain the exit locations in case of a tornado alarm. He also talked about his history with the students.
A flicker of lights followed by several seconds of darkness showed that the storm had reached Charles City, but the participants stayed calm and continued on with the ceremony after the lights came back on.
The Evelyn Miller Scholarship was given to Alysha Bilharz and Sarah Turpen at the end of the ceremony.
Miller was a 5-year-old Floyd girl who was murdered in July 2005, and who would have been a member of this year’s graduating class.
The scholarship for Evelyn Miller comes from money donated by volunteers who searched for Miller.
As the ceremony closed, Charles City High School Associate Principal Larry Wolfe gave the departing students words of advice.
He thanked the parents in the audience for letting him and the faculty be in the students’ lives while in school.
“I spent the last four years with them, and I’ve very proud of them,” Wolfe said. “I’m excited to see their tomorrows.”
He spoke about how graduation was one of the many ends students would have in life.
“This is one of your first ends, like the last chapter in a book,” Wolfe said. “I challenge you to reach out and embrace those beginnings.”
He reflected on his own graduation, and went over four things that had been written by a relative in a graduation card he received.
“‘Work hard, dream big, do good and go make us proud.’ Class of 2017, I challenge you to continue to work hard, dream a dream no one else has seen, do good everyday, listen to the stories of those beside you, and continue to make us proud,” Wolfe said.
Then Wolfe prompted the class, “We are …”
“CC,” the students yelled back.
Seniors receiving scholarships were:
Alex Koehler
Hannah Menken
Madison Davis
Adam Stewart
Abby Milligan
Sara Martin
Nate Lasher
Mason Meyer
Allison Effle
Helen Carey
Kaylee Michael
Luke Hillegas
Isaac Wink
Alysha Bilharz
Chelsea Lumley
Drew Mitchell
Maja Cotton
Emma Heidebrink
Jocelyn Lewis
Alyssa Singleton
Autumn Gerber
Josh Livingood
Emilee Bilharz
Nate Reams
Sarah Turpen
Jacob Greenzweig
McKenzie White
Shantel VanHauen
Nika Babtsov
Kaitlyn Pellymonter
Rebecca Tierney
Bailey Mitchell
Ryan Parker
Ana Calixtro
Kennedi Rowlands
Jaylen Bill
Sandra Bontempts
Stephanie Lawrence
Tiffany Meyer
Madison Nauman
Aaron (AJ) Maloy
Cody Cuccuini
MacKenzie thomas
Raven Knecht
Rosa Gastelum
Dan Swartzrock
Shay Landt
Bryan Springer
Brenden Kvernevig
Morgan Kellogg
Tucker Wilson
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