HANCOCK COUNTY — Eight of the county’s most accomplished and philanthropic teens are in the running for a full-ride scholarship.
The Hancock County Community Foundation recently announced the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship finalists for 2018.
The scholarship, founded in 1998, provides four-year college tuition for two Hancock County students each year. They must be in the top 15 percent of their class and plan to pursue a four-year degree at an Indiana college.
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Eight finalists, two from each Hancock County high school, are chosen by a third party, officials said. They were interviewed in October by a volunteer committee selected by the community foundation. Pending approval, the awards will be announced in December. The eight finalists will be honored at their respective school corporation’s board meetings in November.
Here’s a look at the finalists:
Abby Brown
Eastern Hancock High School
Brown has been elected twice as the president of the class of 2019. She has led the school’s drama club as president for two years and has been involved in show choir and band all four years of high school.
She is a member of the Neighbors Against Substance Abuse youth council and the Hancock County Community Foundation’s Y-GIVE Youth Board — Youth Granting, Investing, Volunteering and Engaging in Hancock County.
She has served the past three years as a vocalist on the youth worship team at Wilkinson Church of Christ. She’s a member of the youth leadership team at the church, as well, and involved in a new special needs ministry.
This summer, she worked as a staff assistant for Royal Family Kids Camp. She hopes to become a speech pathologist.
Caitlin Cox
Eastern Hancock High School
Cox, with leadership roles in the County Kritters 4-H Club, has a passion for the dairy cattle business and aims to become a research geneticist working with dairy cow embryos. She hopes to help make milk production more efficient, she said.
Cox is an active member of the Indiana Junior Holstein Association and has served as a junior reporter and a district representative. This year, she is Indiana Holstein Princess and promotes the dairy industry and Holstein breed to the public. She’s also active in the Hancock County Dairy Producers and works for Engleking Holsteins.
She has made it a mission to beautify the Hancock County 4-H Fairgrounds, spending hours pulling weeds, pruning shrubs, spraying and mulching the flower beds for several years.
Cox is also a member of the Daughters of the Nile, working to benefit the Shriners Children’s Hospital in Lexington, Kentucky, sewing more than 1,000 dolls, pillows and blankets for patients there.
Ethan Elsbury
Greenfield-Central High School
Elsbury created the Greenfield-Central Community Garden in July 2016 to help students be able to see and taste the difference between store-bought produce and locally grown produce.
The garden’s harvest is served at four different school cafeterias, benefiting 2,800 students. He was recognized for this project with the Martha Beckenholdt Youth Philanthropy Award in 2017 and as one of the five finalists for the National Prudential Spirit of Community award.
A member of Greenfield-Central’s FFA and Hancock County 4-H, Elsbury is working on a project in partnership with Eastern Hancock’s FFA, “Safer Hancock County,” to help educate drivers on the dangers of distracted driving, inform them how to be defensive drivers and how to coexist with farm equipment on the road.
Elsbury works with his Cool Clovers 4-H club leader, Rhonda Beeker, to set up and clean up the foods auction at the Hancock County 4-H Fair. He also volunteers with Riley Children’s Hospital, the Salvation Army and Maxwell Intermediate School. In FFA, he has served as chapter treasurer, reporter and president and serves as the eight-county, 20-chapter District 8 FFA vice president.
He plans to attend Purdue University to study agricultural systems management.
Esther Michael
Greenfield-Central High School
Michael is passionate about raising money to provide clean water to impoverished African communities after spending two weeks in Uganda in 2017. She’s training for a half marathon to benefit World Vision, a global Christian humanitarian foundation.
She also volunteers at Cuppa Hope, the coffee shop at Hope Center Indy, a residential campus for women coming out of sex trafficking.
She’s a student leader at Brookville Road Community Church, spending time with her peers, reading books on leadership, attending leadership training sessions and organizing and planning events.
At school, Michael is involved in National Honor Society, Spanish Honor Society, varsity soccer and the Cougar Pride Marching Band. In addition to volunteering and maintaining a high GPA, she is also participating in a 20-hour per week high school co-op position with Elanco Animal Health.
Luke Horner
New Palestine High School
Horner, a Boy Scout, for his Eagle Scout project created a safe and clean space behind the St. Philip Neri Catholic Church Youth House where young adults could come together and worship, spending 239 hours to obtain materials and donations, organize volunteers and complete the project. He removed an existing patio and installed a new one with new steps to the youth building, created a flower garden and added picnic tables and other decorations.
He has traveled with the Crossroads of America Scout Band three times, performing at several national landmarks. He’s a member of Troop 244, where he is currently being considered for the rank of Eagle Scout.
He has served as an altar boy for seven years at Holy Spirit Catholic Church and also helps with audio and visual equipment, assists at the annual confirmation retreat and helps out at annual festivals and vacation Bible schools.
At New Palestine High School, Horner is active in National Honor Society, National Spanish Honor Society, National Science Honor Society, Academic A Team, football and chess club. He hopes to become a physical therapist after receiving extensive treatment for scoliosis.
Matthew Kelley
New Palestine High School
Appreciation of math and science have shaped Kelley’s life and future. Kelley plans to pursue a career in aeronautical engineering, focusing on the dynamics and control of aircraft. As the person in charge of Imagination Station at the New Palestine United Methodist Church’s Vacation Bible School the past two years, Kelley has introduced approximately 350 children to different scientific principles.
He recently completed his Eagle Scout project, which involved converting an old culvert into a gravel walking path and bridge for the environmental education trail at Sugar Creek Township Park. The new bridge provides a safe walking path over the culvert connecting the two sides of the trail established by Dani’s Dreams.
He’s a member of the Science Honor Society at New Palestine High School and has volunteered in elementary school science camps. He participates in varsity soccer and golf. He was captain of the soccer team his senior year and volunteers in the booster club’s concession stand.
Kelley has also become certified in and worked as a soccer official in the Indiana Soccer League. Other activities at school include Quiz Bowl, Academic Super Bowl, Robotics Team, Spanish Honor Society, and Student Council.
Cade Gentry
Mt. Vernon High School
Gentry hopes to become a physician’s assistant.
He is a member of the Hancock County Hope House Youth Board and is involved in United Way Christmas Service, National Honor Society service projects, Best Buddies at Mt. Vernon High School, a school recycling club called The Green Team, Spirit Club, Mt. Vernon Youth Basketball Camp, Neighborhoods Against Substance Abuse, Mt. Vernon Youth Football League, and Traditions at Brookside Senior Living.
He has attended Academic Leadership Academy, serves as a member of Marauder Mentoring for incoming freshmen and served as a leader of group activities during freshman orientation day. He serves on the Mt. Vernon Superintendent Advisory Council as student body representative, attending monthly meetings, taking notes and acting as a voice for the high school student body.
Emma Walker
Mt. Vernon High School
After suffering a debilitating condition and working hard through physical therapy to regain the use of her legs, Walker discovered she would like to emulate her caregivers, who showed her joy, knowledge and compassion.
She plans to become a nurse and minor in sign language to help her better serve patients or their family members who are deaf or hard of hearing. She’s currently a member of the American Sign Language Club at Mt. Vernon High School. She also helped start a group called the Lifeline Club at Mt. Vernon Middle School in response to a peer who took his own life.
She also serves on the school’s prom committee, National Honor Society, is a freshman mentor and the yearbook editorial staff. She works eight hours a week with At Home Preferred as a caregiver, a jump-start on her future nursing career. She and her family founded Lay Me Down to Sleep, which for three years has collected and provided bedding, beds and mattresses to families in need during the Christmas season.
Walker has also served at various churches’ camps and programs, including assisting with a prom for young adults with disabilities.
