Kamryn Miller of Westview Jr. Sr. High School was suprised on Dec. 5, 2022, with the announcement that she was the 2023 Lilly Endowment Scholar.

Kamryn demonstrates many of the qualities we seek in a future leader motivated, hard-working and engaged in her school and community. The selection committee was impressed by her service to her community and passion for her career goals.

Octavia Yoder, executive director of the LaGrange County Community Foundation

Kamryn plans to attend Bethel College and pursue a career as a mechanical engineer. She is the daughter of Brian and Brooke Miller of LaGrange.

This year 34 applications competed for the Lilly Endowment Scholarship. Five students were invited to the finalist round for a personal interview. After the field of applicants was narrowed down, nominees were submitted to the statewide administration of the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship program, Independent Colleges of Indiana, for the selection of scholarship recipients.

Finalists included Manisha Ramachandran of Lakeland High School; Ella Clark, Ethan Hibbs and Paige Riegsecker, all of Westview Jr.- Sr. High School. Each of the finalists will receive a $1,000 four-year renewable scholarship from the Lambright Leadership Scholarship Fund established by Kevin and Carrie Lambright in 2013.  

The Foundation is honored to nominate a LaGrange County student for this prestigious award. We are grateful Lilly Endowment continues to support future leaders and makes dreams possible for our young students.  Selecting a nominee is a difficult process based on many factors. The committee is impressed by the exceptional scholars in our community.

Octavia Yoder, executive director of LaGrange County Community Foundation

We love to surprise our Lilly Endowment Scholarship recipients! This year was especially sweet after such a challenging and tough year. A little good news goes a long way towards lifting everyone’s spirits!

We traveled to Westview Jr Sr High School to make the surprise announcement to Mary Hostetler.

Mary Hostetler is the daughter of Douglas and Delores (Dee) Hostetler of Topeka. They were all happy to join in the surprise announcement! She was overwhelmed with emotion when she found out that she was named the 2021 Lilly Endowment Scholar.

Mary plans to attend Huntington University in the fall of 2021 where she plans to study animal science. Her decision to pursue a career in animal science was inspired by her grandfather, Richard Hostetler.

He developed in me a love for animals and being involved in FFA and 4-H solidified my career choice.

Mary Hostetler

Mary’s biggest dream is to start her own blood line and herd of Hereford cattle. She has a goal to give back to the community by either donating the meat to the Clothes and Food Basket of LaGrange County or selling it at reduced rates based on financial need.   

In the meantime, Mary will finish out her senior year at Westview feeling reassured that she does not have to worry about how her college expenses will be met.

It’s amazing to think I don’t have to worry about how to pay for college or about having a lot of debt after college. It allows me to focus on my goal of obtaining my degree in animal science and returning to LaGrange County.

Mary Hostetler

We want to wish Mary all the best as she pursues her dreams.

If you would like to learn more about the Lilly Endowment Scholarship, please click here.

High School is like Toilet Paper – you only miss it when it’s gone.

Anonymous

The statement above is an especially true sentiment given the unusual school year for the 2020 graduating seniors. Here at the Community Foundation we have always taken for granted that when springtime rolls around we get to congratulate and celebrate graduating seniors who receive our Community Foundation scholarships.

I am sure it is not surprising to you that it did not happen this year. And shucks! We missed it! We missed telling the seniors how proud we are of them. We missed reminding them that they should be proud of themselves for all of their accomplishments. We missed the excitement of presenting the awards. We missed the smiles and laughter.

We realized that if we missed the hoopla of senior celebrations, how much more the 2020 seniors missed it. We had to do something! We scratched our heads and came up with a plan to make this year’s scholarship recipients feel special and decided to roll with it (pun intended).

Each scholarship recipient received their scholarship award by snail mail, complete with a celebration kit (confetti included)! Yes, we could not be there in person to offer accolades to this year’s amazing seniors, but we sure did not want this year to slip by without acknowledging what an outstanding group of graduating seniors we have! Check out some of the photos we received from our 2020 scholarship recipients.

For a complete list of 2020 scholarship recipients click here.