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Fountain-Fort Carson Senior Simeon Gibbs is among the 2024 recipients of the Daniels Fund Scholarship.
High school seniors from Colorado, New Mexico, Utah or Wyoming may apply for a scholarship from the Daniels Fund.
Courtesy of Daniels Fund
Bill Daniels was a well-known Denver philanthropist and “the father of cable.”
Fountain-Fort Carson senior Simeon Gibbs is among the 2024 recipients of the Daniels Fund scholarship.
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Fountain-Fort Carson Senior Simeon Gibbs is among the 2024 recipients of the Daniels Fund Scholarship.
High school seniors from Colorado, New Mexico, Utah or Wyoming may apply for a scholarship from the Daniels Fund.
A group of Pikes Peak region students were among those recently announced as recipients of a full-ride scholarship to a college of their choosing, provided by the Daniels Fund charity.
The yearly scholarship, started in 1997 through the creation of Daniels Fund in 1997, awards students in Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming with full-ride scholarships for their choice of school in the four states for up to a $100,000 scholarship to schools outside the region.
The Classical Academy: Issac Daggett
Colorado Springs Christian School: Kamissa Sticher
The Colorado Springs School: Mia Lybecker, Nathan Sobral
Evangelical Christian Academy: Andrew Gregory, Alaina Ripple
Liberty High School: Oliver Lambert
Pine Creek High School: Michael Farmer, Shane Kennedy, Heng Shen
Rampart High School: Maya Deitrick, Rosalyn Rabet, Malaysia Schaffer
The Vanguard School: Justus Ward
Fountain-Fort Carson High School: Simeon Gibbs, Kya Leptrone
Peyton High School: Albert Kranz, Carson Murray
This year, 209 students were selected from the region out of over 3,600 applicants. A total of 144 students come from Colorado, with 18 specifically from the Pikes Peak region.
On March 21, 22 Denver-based recipients and their parents were invited to Coors Field, unaware of the announcement. After a tour of the stadium and a speech from Colorado Rockies president Greg Feasel, the scholarships were announced.
“We are thrilled to support the educational aspirations of this tremendous group of young people,” said Hanna Skandera, president & CEO of the Daniels Fund in a press release. “They represent the next generation of leaders and we can’t wait to see the amazing things they will accomplish with this opportunity.”
In 2023, 12 local Colorado Springs students were surprised by the announcement at the Pioneers Museum. A spokesman for the organization said the announcement ceremony takes place at a different location each year to maintain its element of surprise for students, though it often happens in Colorado because a high percentage of accepted students come from the state.
He may not have gotten a trip to the museum or a major league ballpark, but the magnitude of the announcement wasn’t lost on Fountain-Fort Carson senior Simeon Gibbs when he checked his emails last Friday.
“It was the biggest relief I’ve felt in a long time,” he said of finding out he received the scholarship. “I knew that I was going to college but my family’s not exactly affluent and all the costs have been sort of looming over my head.”
Growing up with just his mother while she served in the military, Gibbs’ childhood saw him frequently changing schools, cultures and even households and families during deployments. He said this taught him to be adaptable and relatively self-reliant from an early age.
Following the birth of his younger brother when he was 9 years old, Gibbs also learned the difference having a positive male role model in one’s life can have on a child’s upbringing. Slated to become the first in his family to attend college, he’s also remained active in varsity athletics, music and part-time work in addition to academics to support his family and inspire his brother.
“He’s really been my biggest motivation,” Gibbs said of his brother. “I want him to have a pretty high bar (set for his goals). I want him to be better than me when he’s older.”
Fountain-Fort Carson senior Simeon Gibbs is among the 2024 recipients of the Daniels Fund scholarship.
More than 5,000 Daniels Scholarships have been awarded since 2000 — with over 3,000 active alumni — for a total exceeding $260 million.
With this latest class, more than 3,000 Daniels fund scholars have now come from Colorado schools.
Courtesy of Daniels Fund
Bill Daniels was a well-known Denver philanthropist and “the father of cable.”
Established by cable television pioneer professional sports team owner Bill Daniels, The Daniels Fund is a private charitable foundation dedicated to making life better for the people of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming through its grants program, scholarship program and ethics initiative.
Upon his death in 2000, Daniels’ $1 billion estate was transferred to the fund, making it one of the largest private charitable foundations in the Rocky Mountain region.
Gibbs is planning to attend either the University of Colorado Boulder or Georgia Tech to study in biomedical or biological engineering. His hope is to eventually work on biological innovations to ultimately make a difference in people’s lives.
For now, he sees the scholarship not just making a difference in his life, but in his family’s as well.
“My mom has her GI Bill (benefits) that she was going to use to help me pay for school, but now she can use it to go back to school herself,” Gibbs said. “And that’s also going to help my brother go to school when he graduates.”
Sage Kelley from The Denver Gazette contributed to this story.
Twelve Colorado Springs high school students attended the Pioneers Museum Tuesday for what they thought was a reception recognizing outstandin…
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