The Daughters of the American Revolution Good Citizen Award was given to senior Cordelia Isbell for the 2018-19 school year.

“It’s a national society, and there is a program called the DAR Good Citizens program,” counselor Suellyn Stenger said. “It is a program in which a student from each school is awarded that, and then they go on for further scholarship opportunities.”

The award is based on dependability, service, leadership and patriotism.

“I send out a list of seniors, and teachers vote on it,” Stenger said. “That narrows the list down to about three to five students, and then I send the list back out to the teachers for a final vote, and that’s how the Hays High student is selected.”

This award is given out nationally, but the local chapter is the Courtney-Spalding Chapter.

“They send out to each school for a student to be named a good citizen for their school,” Stenger said. “The student then completes personal information, which is somewhat like a resume, but very specific, and then they provide a transcript, and two letters of recommendation.”

That’s one part of the process. The other part is an essay no longer than 550 words, and it must be done in a two hour time period.

“Then we send that information in and the student who receives the award for the Courtney-Spalding Chapter, they receive 100 dollars, and then their essay and their other materials are forwarded for further judging at the state level so they can earn an additional scholarship,” Stenger said.

Isbell will be completing the necessary steps by Nov. 2 when it is due.

“Ms. Stenger brought me into her office and said she had some news for me, and so she told me about it, and then she explained how they decide,” Isbell said. “I was kind of shocked, I didn’t even know it was a thing until now. It’s nice though. It’s a feather in your cap.”

19ibraun@usd489.com