Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Ay Phoun and Carly Smoker have been announced as this year's two Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship winners.
Each scholarship provides full tuition for four years at any accredited Indiana college or university that the student selects. Also covered are required fees and a special allocation of up to $700 per year for required books and equipment. The program is administered locally by the Kosciusko County Foundation.
Ay Phoun, a resident of Kosciusko County, is a senior at the Indiana Academy. She will attend Notre Dame University next year and plans to study medicine to become a doctor. Phoun's list of accomplishments include being named in "Who's Who Among American High School Students"; third-place winner in the Warsaw Community Public Library writing contest; Dr. Benjamin E. Mays Excellence Award from Ball State University; Purdue Junior Scholar in chemistry, social studies and mathematics; second place in the regional Science Olympiad and fourth place at the state Science Olympiad; and first-place winner of the foreign language festival - French division.
In addition to the many honors awarded to Phoun, she has a strong academic, extracurricular and work record. In Phoun's essay response to designing a 20th-century Mount Rushmore, she listed Sir Alexander Flemming, Helen Keller, Martin Luther King Jr. and Mother Teresa as individuals worthy of a monument.
Carly Smoker is a senior at Warsaw Community High School. She will attend Grace College next year to study elementary education and Spanish. Among Smoker's accomplishments are Indiana Girls State delegate, National Choir and Puppet finalist, Tri-Kappa Scholar recognition, FFA State Top Leader Award, FFA Star Greenhand, Top FFA Scholar, Indiana State High Individual in dairy foods, Kosciusko County 4-H Beef Award, Agriculture Subject Award, Citizenship Award, perfect attendance, High Honor Roll, county rep to Animal Science Workshop at Purdue University, Purdue University's Top Scholar and State FFA Talent Contest winner. In addition to Smoker's many academic accomplishments, she is an active community service volunteer and is involved in numerous extracurricular activities.
Smoker listed Martin Luther King Jr., Jonas Salk, Mother Teresa and Albert Einstein as individuals worthy of inclusion on a new Mount Rushmore.
The Kosciusko County Foundation administers the scholarship each year. Recipients are chosen based on an objective list of criteria including community service, academic achievement, extracurricular activities, letters of recommendation, SAT scores, class rank and content of a written essay, among other criteria. The scholarship selection committee does not have access to student names or the names of schools the students attend when choosing recipients.
The Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship is a statewide program created by Lilly Endowment Inc. to help raise the level of educational attainment in individual counties.
