The Custer County Foundation held its annual Scholarship Award Ceremony on Sunday, March 17, at the Callaway High School Gymnasium in Callaway, NE.
Alicia Hermsmeyer, Board Member of the Custer County Foundation, conducted the welcome to an estimated 350 people in attendance. This year’s guest speaker was Whitney Jenkins, who grew up on the Jenkins Ranch and graduated from Callaway High School. Whitney attended Creighton University, and after college she joined the United States Peace Corp and served three years in Senegal, West Africa. She then completed her masters in Economics and International Education at University College in London. Today, she works at EF, Education First, forwarding their mission of opening the world through education and leads the team that creates partnerships with schools in California to help their students explore the world too. In Whitney’s free-time, you can find her at home in Denver hiking in the Rocky Mountains, reading, writing, or back here on the ranch riding horses and spending time with her family.
Whitney started out by getting the crowd engaged with some questions to help them embrace their own Nebraska-ness. Whitney then shared four key pieces of advice with the graduates, however her advice certainly could be applied to everyone in the crowd. First, she encouraged everyone to lean in on their Nebraska-ness. She explained how graduates might encounter opportunities when they may be the only one from Nebraska. She noted with great Nebraska-ness comes great responsibility. Jenkins told the graduates to go out and show their best. Second, they should share their own culture while also being curious and open to diversity in other cultures and the people that they encounter along the way. Whitney said “Bring in those amazing Nebraska values while still considering that there a whole lot of people out there doing things differently then you are, and it is always worth your while to learn about them,” Whitney encouraged. Third, JUMP IN! Especially if it feels a little bit scary! Whitney explained, “Growth doesn’t come from taking the easy path. It comes from pushing ourselves to do things that we are totally uncomfortable doing.” Her fourth and final piece of advice she shared was simply that this life and it’s YOUR adventure, no one else’s. “You get to choose the path where the road forks and the exciting thing is that there are many forks ahead.” Whitney explained how some students might have their path in mind, so they know the steps to take. But there may be some that have no idea what they want to go into. She encouraged the graduates to take their next best step. Take the next best fork in the path.
A total of 98 scholarships were presented to 89 students for a total amount of $138,940 awarded! Scholarships offered through the Foundation were for various fields of study including nursing, veterinary medicine, journalism, lineman, and cosmetology to name a few. Each year scholarships are made available for four-year and two-year degrees. This year over 1,200 applications were received and selecting the recipients was not an easy task. After all the awards were presented, the guidance counselors were thanked for all the assistance they offer the students with the application process. Executive Director Lindsay Cook thanked those in attendance and wished the graduates the best of luck as they begin new chapters in their lives. She went on to explain the selection process and thanked the scholarship committee for their hard work and dedication in selecting the recipients.
Ms. Cook recently announced plans to resign as Executive Director to explore other opportunities. The 2024 Scholarship Ceremony was her last official duty. The 350 attendees gave Lindsay a standing ovation to thank her for her excellent service.
The Custer County Foundation was established 33 years ago. Since its inception, the Foundation has awarded over $1.6 million in scholarships to Custer County students. If you would like to learn more about establishing a scholarship through the Custer County Foundation please contact the office at 308-872-2232 or [email protected].
