An actor portrays the great-grandfather of WCHS graduate Kate Koontz.

WARSAW — Kate Koontz, a recent Warsaw Community High School graduate, has been named a national finalist in the Intellectual Property Owners Educational Foundation Video Contest. Her video was inspired by her great-grandfather, who developed numerous interesting inventions, but never took time to patent them.

Ironically, although his ideas didn’t make him rich, a version of his story may still help his great-granddaughter pay for college. Kate created her video as a part of a videography class at the Warsaw Area Career Center this past spring, and now Koontz’s creative video landed her one of the four national finalist spots chosen by IPOEF judges. With the help of voters, Koontz has a chance to win up to $9,500.

To vote for Kate in the 16-18-year-old category, information is provided below. She can win a $7,500 scholarship or have a chance to win another $2,000 if she accumulates enough likes on Facebook. The website for voting is located at https://www.ipoef.org/2018-ip-video-contest-vote/. Voting requires the entering of an email. To like Koontz’s video on Facebook visit https://www.facebook.com/WaccTv/ for the pinned post. Be sure to like the post and not the generic IPOEF page. Voting ends Aug. 31.