DAR announces scholarship winners

DAR Good Citizen Awards were presented to four area high school seniors at the Grinnell Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution meeting March 9, at the Newton Public Library.

First place winner was Cassidy Smith from Colfax-Mingo High School. Cassidy is involved in many school activities, including National Honor Society, Student Council, Robotics Team, soccer (where she is the captain); concert and pep band, drama, speech and National Society of High School scholars. She has taken flight lessons and is part of the Civil Air Patrol where she was the 2nd Drone Technician in Iowa Wing (and the first female); she was Cadet of the Year for her local squadron and NCO of the Year at the state level. She is training to prepare for qualification in search and rescue. She is active in her community with volunteer activities like the school blood drive, Iowa Speedway parking, Meals From the Heartland; and has made quilts for Veterans and other non-profit organizations. She takes college-level courses through DMACC and works part-time at restaurants in her community. Cassidy plans to attend Minnesota State University, Mankato and earn a degree in commercial aviation after which she plans to fly for an airline and/or join the Air National Guard. Cassidy received a $250 award and a DAR Good Citizens pin.

Runners-up were Camryn McLeod, Newton High School; William Brown, Baxter High School; and Jack Erselius, Montezuma High School. Each received $50 awards and DAR Good Citizen pins.

Camryn McLeod is an executive board member of her Student Council, a YMCA Board youth representative and is active in organizations such as Fellowship of Christian Athletes and Battle of the Books. She earned a silver cord for performing 100 hours of volunteer work in her community. She is a member of the National Honor Society and was a Kiwanis Student of the Month. Camryn works part-time in her community and enjoys reading, spending time with loved ones, listening to music and keeping up with current events. Her future plans include a four-year degree with a major in social work and a minor in psychology. She plans to then get her masters in social work and build a career in correctional social work with an emphasis on incarcerated women.

William Brown is a member of his high school choir and sang the national anthem for an Iowa Wild game. He was a member of the state qualifying team of the academic Decathlon and won third place individual honors at the regional competition with individual recognition in art, economics, math, and science. He is a member of the National Honor Society as well as a member of Phi Theta Kappa through DMACC where he takes college-level courses. His community service includes his Boy Scout Eagle project, Hoover Uncommon Student Service Project, community theater, and church youth group. After graduation he plans to attend college and study data science at either Cornell College or Simpson College.

Jack Erselius is a member of the National Honor Society and has participated in five sports for four years of high school: cross country, basketball, track, golf, and baseball, and he has excelled in each. He has participated in pep, concert, and jazz band. He competed on Montezuma High’s personal finance competition team where they advanced to state and came in second. He also competed in speech and drama and made it to state with his team. One of his favorite activities is being a part of a unique program called the Football Stat Crew which records statistics in real time during games and enters them into a computer program (created by Jack) which calculates the analytics that are used by the coaches during half time and a more basic version that can be viewed by the fans after the game. He is active in his church, especially youth programs. He works in his community in the lawn care and snow removal business with his father. Jack plans to attend Iowa State University and major in business analytics and hopes to work in sports analytics.

The DAR Good Citizens Program which began in 1934 aims to recognize high school seniors who demonstrate the four qualities of a good citizen, namely dependability, service, leadership, and patriotism. Selected by their teachers and peers, only one student per year may be honored as a school’s DAR Good Citizen. The selected student then writes a two-hour proctored essay which is judged to determine the chapter award winner.

This year’s prompt was: “What are the civic responsibilities of a good citizen and why are these duties, activities and behaviors important to the shaping of the America you hope to experience?”