Total Funds Donated Through 2022: $41,700
2023 Recipients ($4,200 donated)
- Amber Winkler – $2,000
- Chloe Ellison – $1,000
- Maggie Koester – $600
- Allison Bass – $600
2022 Recipients ($4,200 donated)
- Kyle Button – $2,100
- Macy Cronin – $2,100
2021 Recipients ($5,100 donated)
- Emily Zhang – $2,600
- Sydney Ellison – $1,000
- Ashlynn Perez – $500
- Gabriel Lobato – $500
- Parker Kilen – $500
2020 Recipients ($4,800 donated)
- Emily Hood – $2,000
- Gracie Bowman – $1,400
- Carson Ramirez – $1,400
2019 Recipients
- Heeral Patel – $2,200
- Reide Pearson – $1,100
- Joel Boenitz – $825
- Hannah Wilson – $825
- Madison Abanathie – $500
2018 Recipients
- Lupe Medina – $1,500
- Alyssa Barber – $1,000
- Alex Rowe – $700
- Carolynn Gonzalez – $600
2017 Recipients
- Maddie Mitchell – $1,000
- Jacob Lintner – $700
- Rebecca Purcell – $400
- Ryanne O’Donnell – $400
2016 Recipients
Jessica Biondo – $1,500
Priscilla Joel – $750
Autumn Todd – $550
Autumn Todd started her journey in the journalism program her Sophomore year in Mrs. Phillips Photojournalism class. She was encouraged to apply to be on Staff and did so applying as a photographer. Hearing that the staff was short of videographers she decided to be on the video staff instead and was excited to try something new. Autumn officially joined the video staff her Junior year as a general staff member (being the only girl in the room first semester). Each month she made two videos and wrote sports stories for FHNgameday. Her Junior year she was inducted as a Quill and Scroll member, received an honorable mention for sports story individual broadcast, and won the 2015 editors’ award.
Her Senior year of high school she was announced the Editor-in-Chief for 6th hour Video where she enjoyed leading her peers, growing in video skills, and learning how to be an effective leader. Along with teaching and planning the video hour for her staffers she also made two videos a month and attended Livestreams as the camera women or scoreboard keeper. Senior year Autumn received “Student of the Show” for the March edition of HEC-TV for a video she made on the new Step Club at North. She also received MJEA Honor Roll, and was a state nominee for a video of the year feature, and video of the year special project. Autumn is proud to say she had two videos her Senior year that went viral including one with 18,966 views and the other with 24,000 views on Facebook.
Being a staffer and an Editor-in-Chief in 026 has taught her what it truly means to be a good leader and has helped her build the skills to face many life lesson. Even though times would get stressful, Autumn has enjoyed every minute of being in the room. 026 was her home in high school. She will be attending Lindenwood University in the fall majoring in Mass Communications (broadcast/cinematography). One day she has hopes to own her own wedding videography business where she can pursue her passion of making videos and making people smile. She knows she has 026 to thank for her head start on her journey.
2015 Recipients
Ashleigh Jenkins – $1,000
Ashleigh Jenkins was a staff photographer for three years. She joined publications as a staff photographer her sophomore year. At the end of her first year she decided to take staff one step further and applied for editor. During her junior year she attended both Nationals trips and took home an Excellent from Boston and Honorable Mention from San Diego. She reapplied for editor at the end of her junior year and was announced Editor-In-Chief of Photography the summer before her senior year. She followed her passion for hockey photography all the way to State. During her tenure on staff Ashleigh won many awards on the local, state and national level, including making MJEA’s first ever All State team.
Ashleigh plans on attending Truman State University in the fall and double majoring in Political Science and Communications. She doesn’t know what she’ll do after college.
Ashleigh would like to thank everyone in the room.
Alexis Tainter – $500
Alexis was on newspaper staff for two and a half years. Her senior year she was the Team Editor for newspaper. She came into the room knowing her love for writing but found a new love for design. She has won several awards, including two Quill and Scroll Sweepstakes awards for her work with in-depth, a Superior award from NSPA in the Online News Package Category, several SSP awards and a Gold Key from Quill and Scroll for one of her designs. She says she would not have received these awards without the teachings from her fellow editors and advisers. She was also on the FHNtoday twitter team and worked on interacting with readers through social media.
Alexis will attend her dream school in the fall, the University of Kansas. She plans to major in Graphic Design and Communications. She is thankful for her experience in 026 that helped her find passion and a career path for her future.
“Through publications, I have learned so many more things than I would have in a normal classroom setting,” Tainter said. “My time in 026 has given me lifelong friends, a plan for the future and leadership qualities. The impact this special place has had on me is bigger than I ever imagined and I’m so thankful I was able to find a home in high school.”
Jake Chiarelli – $250
Jake joined the room second semester his freshman year. Starting out on the North Star newspaper staff, Jake improved on his writing skills, learned a lot about design, and became right at home in room 026. By second semester his sophomore year, he was slated to become an editor. He had also turned most of his attention to FHNtoday.com. Though he enjoyed design and writing for the North Star, he found his true passion in writing and editing for FHNtoday.
During his junior year, Jake worked in the newly-formed Digital Media hour. Working diligently through the summer, Jake was named the Editor-in-Chief of Digital Media his senior year. Jake was also named a student partner for the 45words Student Press Rights group, and committed himself to speaking out against censorship and prior review in scholastic journalism. During his time as Editor-in-Chief, FHNToday.com received #1 Best of Show at the National convention in Denver.
More than anything, Jake is thankful that he found his second-home in high school in room 026. He couldn’t be more thankful for the memories, trips and experiences that being an editor in 026 has made available to him. Jake is going to Mizzou to study Journalism, and hopes to become an educator at some point in his career.
Lauren Pike – $250
Lauren Pike has been a part of the 026 family since the second semester of her freshman year and has loved every minute of it. She has spent three and a half on newspaper staff, and during her junior year she was the Head Copy Editor and she became the Managing Editor during her senior year. Since being in newspaper, Lauren’s goal has been to make writing fun for the staffers and to teach them the communication skills necessary to build strong relationships.
During her time in 026 Lauren has received several awards including two honorable mentions in the JEA National Write-off contest, two Quill and Scroll awards for editorial and news feature writing, and a Show-Me award for in-depth article series from the MIPA for the Normandy center to name a few. Outside of journalism, Lauren also received a Gold Key in the Scholastic Art and Writing awards for a creative writing portfolio. In the future, Lauren aspires to pursue a career in magazine writing and hopes to one day publish a novel.
2014 Recipients
Fionna Cruz – $1,500
Fionna Cruz has been a part of the publications family since her sophomore year. She was a staffer and then became Editor-in-Chief her junior year and held that title her senior year. During her time in the room, she has been awarded with three Quill and Scroll awards, several MIPA awards, two Honorable Mentions during National conventions, an Honorable Mention for Infographic Design of the Year and has been a part of two Pacemaker wins as well as a Best of Show award.
Fionna hopes to become a doctor and is attending the University of Missouri in Kansas City this fall. Her dream is to provide medical care for third world countries. Though she is not going into the field of journalism, the lessons she’s learned and people that she has met while being a part of the room will stay with her forever.
“This room has made me into the person I am today,” Cruz said. “As cliche and overused as it sounds, it’ll always be a part of me.”
Maddie Hiatt – $500
Maddie Hiatt was on newspaper staff for three years and an editor for two years. Her sophomore year she was a writer and designer. During that year she realized that while she liked writing, design is her true passion. The fashion page became her focus sophomore year. She then became Features Editor her junior year. She was able to use her creativity and design pages and come up with new ideas. Besides writing and designing her junior year, Maddie became the head of the FHNtoday Pinterest account. She would make multiple boards a month and tripled the number of followers.
Senior year Maddie became Co-Editor-in-Chief. She designed the In-Depth sections for the majority of the papers. Although with the In-Depth section, Maddie designed several fashion pages and infographic pages.
Being an editor in 026 has taught her how to be a good editor and have better communication skills. While there were some stressful times, Maddie has enjoyed every minute of being in the room. 026 was her home in high school. She will attend Drake University in the fall and double major in Graphic Design and Magazine Journalism. One day she hopes to work for a fashion magazine and she knows she has 026 to thank for her head start.
Matthew Krieg – $250
Matt was a staff photographer for two and a half years. From the time he first came to the room, he worked his way up from general staffer, to becoming an editor halfway through his junior year, to being named editor-in-chief of photography before his senior year. During that time, Matt learned how to plan for and lead the photography class, manage multiple deadlines, and keep people on task.
A highlight of his career was traveling to Joplin, Missouri to help Joplin High School’s developing journalism program grow further while the community was still rebuilding after the devastating tornado tore through their town. After winning 4th place in the NSPA Photo of the Year contest in sports action photography, Matt knew sports journalism will be what he wanted to do for a career. In the fall, he will attending the University of Missouri to explore journalism more in-depth.
Daniel Stewart – $250
Dan Stewart was on the publications staff for three years of his high school career and was the FHNTodayTV editor for two years. During his time he redesigned the format of the FHNTodayTV and brought it to a new level of professionalism, and received recognition on city, state, and national levels for doing so. He also found a passion for review writing, and wrote music and film reviews for the website and newspaper.
He has grown as a leader, a filmmaker, and a person while in 026, and plans to study Film and Media at the University of Kansas. With his education and experience, he hopes to become a filmmaker and documentarian, so as to tell stories that really connect with people.”
2013 Recipients
Morgan O’Neill – $1,000
Morgan O’Neill was on the publications staff for three years, she worked her way up from staffer to Managing Editor of the yearbook her senior year. Along the way she had many different jobs. When she was a staffer, she worked in almost every section of the book, and her junior year she ran the ads section. In the Managing position she oversaw the design and style of the book, and worked with staffers to become better designers. The position she was in provided room for a lot of opportunity for her her last year. She designed an In-Depth section of one of the newspaper’s and had the chance to take a special interest in photo, multimedia, and writing. Her time in 026 brought achievements and awards, but to end her high school career she was awarded “Journalist of the Year Award”. Morgan will continue her journalism experience and education at Truman University where she will use her communications skills to assist in the fight towards a healthier, cleaner environment.
Alexis Christo – $500
I have been on Publications staff for two years; spending my junior year with Digital Media and my senior year with Newspaper. During my last year in 026 I was able to become very versatile in my writing from Sports to InDepth. I took to learning design for the first time and was able to grown as a designer as well. At the end of the year I was awarded with the Editor Award in honor of my hard work and dedication to newspaper. After high school I plan to attend the University of Missouri to study journalism and business. From my two years in 026 I have learned many things that will help me excel with my journalism and business career, as well as a person.
2012 Recipients
- Kelsey Bell – $500
- Kaitlyn Williams – $250
- Paige Yungermann – $250
- Jessica Streiler – $100
2011 Recipients
Logan Ponche – $750
Logan Ponche was on the publications staff for the duration of his high school career. In that time, he held many different positions for the newspaper staff including: copy editor, sports editor, ads editor and managing editor of writing. In those positions, Logan worked primarily with stories and writers, and during his final year, worked as a writing coach for the InDepth section, as well as for the staff. After graduation, Logan will continue his education at Drury University, where he will be playing soccer and majoring in communications.
“It’s a really big honor to win this scholarship,” Logan said. “Being in 026 has completely changed my high school career. I couldn’t imagine not being in there, it’s meant so much to me.”
Coleen Grone – $500
Coleen was on the yearbook staff for three years and an editor for two. Her first year on staff she received the “Rookie of the Year” award. Throughout the years, she received one Quill and Scroll National award, two Missouri State awards and seven conference wide awards. She was apart of the Excalibur yearbook “Best of Show” award that was given at Nationals in 2009 and 2010. She ended her career with receiving the “Journalist of the Year” award.
Coleen plans to attend the University of Central Missouri and is signed to run cross country and track. She is planing on getting a degree in Secondary Education to teach English and History.
“I really enjoyed my time in room 026,” Coleen said. “It was the place to learn about life basically even though it was just a yearbook room.”
Ashlee Schneider – $500
In the room, Ashlee Schneider has gone from a staffer to Editor-in-Chief. As Editor-in-Chief she has put a yearbook together and helped staffers grow into good designers and writers. She has also worked hard and grown with her design skills. She said she has learned many things from being in 026 that will help her in college and in the business world.
After graduation she will be attending Murray State University in Kentucky. She plans on getting a Bachelor in Nursing and then going on to Anesthetist school. After finishing school she would like to specialize in pediatrics.
“026 has been my home for the past four years,” Schneider said. “I will always know no matter what that I will be welcomed there.”