Last week 35 students from or affiliated with Hays High received Dane Hansen Scholarships. These students were required to take a test to qualify for the scholarship as well as interview to receive it. The total amount of scholarship money received by these students will be $502,000 spread over four years.

Students must have a 21 or higher on their ACT test, and a 3.50 GPA to qualify to take the test to qualify for an interview. Once they pass the test they must get three letters of recommendation as well as partake in an interview process at the Hansen Foundation.

The scholarships are broken up into four brackets: The Leaders of Tomorrow receive $10,000 renewable for three additional years, the Hansen Scholars receive $6,500 renewable for three additional years, the Hansen Students receive $4,000 renewable for one additional year, and the Career and Technical Education receive $4,000 renewable for one additional year.  Specific requirements must be met each year for the scholarship to continue.

The seniors who received scholarships and which scholarship they received are listed below.

Leaders of Tomorrow: Brendan Chapman, Lacey Gregory and Mark Schuckman.

Hansen Scholars: Trinity Callis, Alliana Drees, Autumn Hohmann, Madison Karlin, Dawson Rooney, Kaitlyn Schaben and Ethan Tschanz.

Hansen Students: Abigail Balman, Analyse Claude, Mikayla Koerner, Drew Morley, Sara Rohleder, Kayla Satomi, Taryn Stauth, Kyler Voss, Zachary Wagner, Katherine Weisenborn, Ryan Will, Sarah Wyse and Eric Rorstrom.

Career and Technical Education: Keaton Augustine, Marissa Befort, Savannah Bieker, Ashley Boland, Emma Humphrey, Jared Kisner, Kelsi Page, Taya Randle, Jennifer Vallejo, Mason Weber, Jesse Weilert and Tracee Weilert.

Lacey Gregory, recipient of the $10,000 Leaders of Tomorrow scholarship, said she is planning on attending KU in the fall, and finding out about this scholarship made the decision much easier.

“I was very pleased to receive the scholarship,” Gregory said. “I’m glad to have been given such a great opportunity.”

Mark Schuckman, who plans to attend Fort Hays State University next year studying Industrial Technology, said that he was surprised he received the Leaders of Tomorrow scholarship.

“I feel very honored that I was one of the ten students in northwest Kansas to receive this award and I’m very thankful I was chosen,” Schuckman said. “After my interview, I thought it went pretty well so I thought I might get a scholarship of some type but I didn’t expect to get the $10,000 one at all.”

18drooney@usd489.com