On Sept. 16, seniors who met the requirements were given the opportunity to take the Dane G. Hansen academic scholarship test.

To be eligible to take the test, students must have taken the ACT and have had a composite score of 21 or higher, plus have at least a 3.5 GPA.

Students met in the library before first period and boarded on a bus to the Rose Garden to begin the test. The testing began around 8:15 a.m., and students were given four hours to complete the test, with testing ending at 12:15 and students returning to Hays High during G3.

Senior Marissa Raynesford said she was nervous for the exam and the time limit.

“I did not know what to expect because the study tips were very vague, and the test sections change year to year,” Raynesford said. “I was thinking about the time limit the whole time, especially towards the end when I was rewriting my two essays.”

Seven area students will be awarded the Hansen Leaders of Tomorrow scholarship, which is worth $10,000 and renewable for three additional years ($40,000); Hays High had two recipients of this scholarship last year.

Thirty-five Hansen Scholar scholarships also will be awarded this year.  That scholarship is $6,500 and is renewable for three additional years ($26,000).  Last year, Hays High had 10 recipients of this scholarship.

Seventy Hansen Student scholarships will be awarded, which are worth $4,000 and renewable for one additional year ($8,000). Hays High had 12 recipients of this scholarship last year.

Finally, the Hansen Foundation also offers 100 Career and Technical Education Scholarship worth $4,000 that can be renewed for one additional year. For this scholarship, there is no ACT or GPA requirements, but students do have to attend certain technical schools in northwest Kansas.  The deadline to apply is Oct. 23.  HHS had 13 recipients of this scholarship last year.

Senior Brendan Kershner also said the test was challenging, due to not knowing what to study.

“Going into the test, I was surprisingly anxious, which I normally don’t feel with other big tests like the ACT, because I genuinely didn’t know what to study for on this test, and there wasn’t really a way for me to prepare for it,” Kershner said. “I expected the test to be challenging, but not five sections and two papers challenging. The questions to me were sometimes overly obscure.”

Students will get notification in mid-December if they will be invited to an interview.  The interviews are in February and are at the Dane Hansen Foundation in Logan.  The scholarship list is made public in mid-March. Students have until June 4 to accept or decline the scholarships.

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