RAPID CITY, S.D. (KOTA) – This is one of our favorite days of the year, when we hand out the prizes for our Rising Star of the West Scholarship Contest. We announced the winners Tuesday and they’re splitting up a total of $7,500 in scholarships from KOTA Territory and Monument Health.
Custer High School senior Quinn Lewison was picked as this year’s winner by a combination of the scores of our KOTA Territory panel and your scores online. That earns Quinn a $4,000 scholarship. She found out she won last night.
<Lewison says, “I was watching the TV with my family last night. I was so excited. It was such a great moment to be with my family for it.”
Second place in this year’s contest goes to Stevens High School junior Hayley Cunningham. Hayley comes away with a $2,000 scholarship. She didn’t wait until she was a senior to enter the contest.
Cunningham says, “I think, people, juniors, seniors, sophomore, freshmen shouldn’t be afraid to take opportunities just because of age or other dispositions. Just dive right in and don’t be afraid.”
Third place went to Central High School senior Amelia Schaefbauer.
She gets a $1,000 scholarship. Amelia was also a finalist in last year’s contest, the first student to manage to do that twice.
Schaefbauer says, “I think I know a little bit more about public speaking, had a little bit more of an idea of what to do when on camera, how to react and all that kind of stuff. But really it’s been such an amazing experience to be on here two years in a row. It’s been absolutely amazing.”
And fourth place in this year’s contest went to Stevens High School senior Euana Matute. That gives Euana a $500 college scholarship. She says the contest was a good experience.
Matute says, “Other than the public speaking part, I think the networking and knowing a lot of people and the research that went into writing the scripts and everything was a very big learning experience for me.”
Again, congratulations to all of our finalists. They all did a great job and we’re sure we’ll see another great group of students next year.
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