Cloudy early with some clearing expected late. Low 32F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph..
Cloudy early with some clearing expected late. Low 32F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph.
Updated: December 18, 2024 @ 7:44 pm
New Albany High School senior Isaiah Green celebrates with his family after learning he was named a Lilly Endowment Community Scholar on Tuesday.
New Albany High School senior Maddox Kaiser was one of four local seniors awarded a Lillly scholarship Tuesday.
Maddox Kaiser gets a hug from New Albany High School counselor Eddie Bobbitt on Tuesday after learning that he was named a Lilly Endowment Community Scholar.
New Albany High School senior Isaiah Green celebrates with his family after learning he was named a Lilly Endowment Community Scholar on Tuesday.
Maddox Kaiser gets a hug from New Albany High School counselor Eddie Bobbitt on Tuesday after learning that he was named a Lilly Endowment Community Scholar.
NEW ALBANY — Four Southern Indiana high school seniors were named Lilly Endowment Community Scholars during surprise presentations Tuesday.
New Albany High School seniors Isaiah Green and Maddox Kaiser were the proud recipients of the life-changing scholarships along with Silver Creek’s Kaitlyn Dallmann and Floyd Central’s William Trask.
New Albany High School senior Maddox Kaiser was one of four local seniors awarded a Lillly scholarship Tuesday.
The Lilly Endowment Community surprised Green and Kaiser with full tuition to any Indiana university.
“I was just shocked and relieved and so happy,” Kaiser said.
“I don’t know how they managed to [trick me],” Green said. “I was just shocked and I still am.”
This renowned scholarship is awarded to a select few high school seniors in all 92 counties of Indiana, awarding 147 annually. This organization aims to give back to their state and give to hardworking high school students who are involved in their communities and have a plan for their future, according to their website.
“All four of [the NAHS] semi-finalists are deserving and incredible, this class is filled with incredible students,” New Albany High School post-secondary counselor and Lilly reveal mastermind Eddie Bobbitt said. “Both of [the winners], they’re more than students, they have a lot going on outside that you may not be aware of.”
Green has been practicing Kendo and Iaido, Japanese martial arts with swords for the past few months. Along with that, Green is involved in various leadership programs, such as YMCA Black Achievers, the Jack and Jill Cotillion for Louisville, and volunteering at Bridge to Success during high school.
While many of Green’s accomplishments have been outside of school, Maddox Kaiser shows pride in his school through his involvement within NAHS. Kaiser was a part of the Bulldog boys soccer team all four years of high school earning academic all-state. Not only that, Kaiser is a part of FCA and student council.
Tuesday started off normally for the students, but not for Bobbitt. Bobbitt planned the morning down to the minute, arriving at 6:45 a.m. to slip the large check through his office window to deflect any suspicion. NAHS counselors and administration work hard to pull off the surprise for the winners by getting their loved ones to the school and surprising them with their classmates and family.
“Once we find out who our Lilly semi-finalists are in October, the first thing that I do is I pull up a Google Doc and I start drafting out reveals for each student,” Bobbitt said. “We try to make [the reveal] as personal as possible.”
In order to win the scholarship these recipients must have a want to give back to the community and the Lilly Endowment Foundation. Earning this scholarship can lead to many opportunities for these seniors in the future. Making connections and creating new relationships guarantees these young adults a good start to their futures in college and careers.
“[With the Lilly] I plan to go to college, study biomedical engineering, and then I think go into neural engineering or biomechanics,” Kaiser said.
“[With the Lilly I will] go to school at IU Bloomington most likely, and do game design or development, that type of thing,” Green said.
Lilly finalists are selected based on their applications and essays. After receiving an email informing the students that they’re finalists, they begin to prepare for the interview. The week leading up to the interview, Bobbitt helps the students with mock interviews to prepare them for the real thing in front of a panel. After the interview, the students must wait until the day it’s announced, which is any day between their interview and the date they give the students.
Lilly Endowment Scholars receive full tuition, required fees and up to $900 per year for books and equipment for undergraduate study on a full-time basis leading to a baccalaureate degree at any accredited Indiana public or private college or university.
The Community Foundation of Southern Indiana administers the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship program locally each year. This year, 161 students applied in Clark and Floyd counties.
“I would like to send congratulations to all of the finalists, as well as a special thank you to Lilly Endowment Inc., which has been incredibly supportive of our foundation and this community,” said Linda Speed, President and CEO of the Community Foundation. “Because of the generosity of this scholarship program, we are able to award these life-changing scholarships to deserving applicants in Clark and Floyd counties, who will go on to pursue their education and achieve their goals.”
Sofía Rodríguez is a New Albany High School student who is intersted in a career in journalism.
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