Tippecanoe Valley School Board Celebrates Scholarship Winners, Rising Stars
MENTONE — Student recognition was the theme of the Tippecanoe Valley School Board meeting held tonight, Dec. 16, as several scholarship winners and recognitions were announced.
Kirstyn Yoder was announced as a Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship winner. This scholarship is awarded to only 143 students across Indiana yearly. Yoder will receive a full scholarship at any four-year college of her choice in Indiana.
“We’re very pleased to announce that Kirstyn is one of those who has been chosen as a Kosciusko County Lilly Scholar,” said TVHS Principal Brandon Kresca.
Yoder stated that she did have finalized plans for college, but is considering attending either Notre Dame or Purdue University.
Faith Kamp was announced as a Coca-Cola Scholars Program semi-finalist. Kamp was one of 1,982 semi-finalists among over 93,000 applicants chosen because of her outstanding leadership, academic achievements and dedication to the community.
“One thing, in particular, I’d like to highlight about Faith is that you see her at just about anything around Akron or Mentone and I think that says a lot about her character,” said Kresca. “She’s definitely deserving of this high honor.”
Kamp will now continue through the process to become a Coca-Cola Scholar.
Four juniors were also chosen to represent Tippecanoe Valley as Rising Stars of Indiana Class of 2021. Those recognized were Hannah Engstrand, Payton Mills, Marissa Mclean and Mackenzie Costello.
The Indiana Association of School Principals provides high schools the ability to recognize juniors based on their academic achievement and leadership qualities.
“We’re really impressed with the job that these four juniors have done,” said Kresca. “We go to them a lot of times in areas where we need leadership and we always know that they are doing their best in the classroom.”
During the meeting, Kresca also announced that the high school was the recipient of a $4,150 donation from Eckrich in collaboration with Martin’s. Between Oct. 20 and Nov. 16, Eckrich committed to donating a portion of eligible products sold at the Martin’s on Husky Trail in Warsaw.
The donation will be used to expand the farm to fork program by purchasing hydroponic growing towers for the agriculture area and biology classrooms at the high school. The hope is for the students to host a community dinner in the spring serving food all grown within the school.
“It’s a great opportunity and we were rewarded a quit a big of money so we’re really grateful,” said Kresca. “We’re just excited for it and I think it’s going to be a good opportunity for us. ”
The next regular school board meeting will be held at 6 p.m. Monday, Jan. 20, 2020, at Burket Educational Center.
In other news, the board:
- Accepted a $336 Donors Choose grant for kitchen supplies, a $232 Donors Choose grant for sensory items, a $750 Fulton County REMC Round-up grant for TVHS radio and television class, a $750 Fulton County REMC Round-up grant for physics equipment; and a $200 Lake Area Autism Network grant for fidgets.
- Approved the hiring of Julie Kruger, custodian at TVHS; April Sole, cook at TVHS; and Rita Troyer, custodian at TVHS.
- Approved the extra-curricular assignments of Rick Shepherd as assistant track coach at TVHSl Joe Mushalla as JV boys’ baseball coach at TVHS; Brooke Kresca as 5th-grade girls’ basketball coach at Mentone Elementary; McKenna Grossman as yearbook sponsor at TVMS; and Erin Eastgate as JV girls’ softball coach at TVHS.
- Accepted the resignation of Hope Gresley, social studies teacher, senior class sponsor and National Honor Society sponsor at TVHS; Tabatha Hellmers, cook at TVHS; Kari Thompson, instructional assistant at Mentone Elementary; Sara Thomas, yearbook sponsor and steering committee at TVMS; Keri Glennie, 5th-grade girls’ basketball coach at Mentone Elementary; Devon Reese, custodian at TVHS; Morse Utter, custodian at Akron Elementary; and Melissa Holstein, instructional assistant at Akron Elementary.
- Heard that around $18,000 was raised during the Jeff Shriver Benefit Dinner on Dec. 14.
- Received an update on the progress of the softball facility project.
- Approved a resolution to transfer money from the Education Fund to the Operations Fund.