ARTS COUNCIL OF JOHNSON COUNTY ANNOUNCES 2024 SHOOTING STARS SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS
18 High School Seniors Receive College Scholarships For Excellence in the Literary, Performing and Visual Arts
99 High School Seniors Nominated in Nine Categories
OVERLAND PARK, Kans. – April 7, 2024– The Arts Council of Johnson County announced 18 scholarship recipients at the 2024 Shooting Stars Gala on Sunday, April 7 at Johnson County Community College.
This 27th annual Shooting Stars Gala honored 99 Johnson County high school seniors for achievement in the literary, performing, and visual arts through recognition and college scholarships.
This special recognition program was created in 1997 by former Arts Council of Johnson County chairman Bob Endres. Bob’s vision was to create a program that celebrated young Johnson County artists for their artistic excellence in high school.
“Arts and creativity are essential to every student’s educational experience,” said Sarah VanLanduyt, ACJC Executive Director. “The Shooting Stars program celebrates student artists and their arts educators while also recognizing the important role that arts education plays in our schools and students’ development.”
Since its founding, the Shooting Stars program has awarded more than $400,000 in college scholarships and $65,000 in teacher honorariums. At the Shooting Stars Gala on April 7, 2024, nine first place scholarships of $1,400 each, nine second place scholarships of $700 each and nine teacher honorariums of $300 each will be awarded. The program is supported by Johnson County and area foundations, corporations and individual donors. Area universities and colleges including Johnson County Community College, the UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance and Kansas City Art Institute are key program collaborators as well as local arts educators.
Students are nominated by their Arts teachers for this recognition. Arts teachers from schools throughout Johnson County are invited to nominate students each year. To participate in Shooting Stars, students must meet these criteria: live in Johnson County, Kansas; be in the 12th grade and will graduate in the spring; be nominated by an Arts teacher from their high school, and submit an application. Nominations were accepted in October and finalists were named in November. The finalists auditioned or submitted a portfolio of work for review by independent judges in the following categories.
Literature (8 finalists)
Photography (9 finalists)
Production and Design (6 finalists)
Strings (6 finalists)
Theatre Performance (15 finalists)
Three-Dimensional Art (13 finalists)
Two-Dimensional Art (19 finalists)
Voice Classical (13 finalists) and
Winds and Percussion (10 finalists)
2024 Shooting Stars Scholarship Recipients
2D Visual Art: 1st – Honey Brown Gardner Edgerton High School
2nd – George Newham Olathe North High School
3D Visual Art: 1st Lucas Nguyen Blue Valley West High School
2nd – Alea Schrock Blue Valley Southwest High School
Photography: 1st – Alexa Oatman Gardner Edgerton High School
2nd – Elizabeth Ford Blue Valley West High School
Literature: 1st – Harrison Jones Blue Valley High School
2nd – Alexa Newsom Blue Valley North High School
Production & Design: 1st – Ainsley Steenhard Olathe North High School
2nd – Ellie Parks Gardner Edgerton High School
Strings: 1st – Matthew Lee Olathe Northwest High School
2nd – William Clark Blue Valley West High School
Wind & Percussion: 1st – Ruby Wagner Shawnee Mission East High School
2nd – Maren Tims Shawnee Mission West High School
Theatre Performance: 1st – Faryn Clevenger Shawnee Mission West High School
2nd – Layla Ledford Shawnee Mission East High School
Voice (Classical): 1st – Kaitlyn Rongish Shawnee Mission West High School
2nd – Noah Tarjan Blue Valley North High School
About the Shooting Stars Program:
The Shooting Stars Recognition, Scholarship & Awards Program was created in 1997, by former Arts Council of Johnson County chairman Bob Endres. His vision was to create a program that celebrated young Johnson County artists for their artistic excellence in high school. Students are nominated by their Arts teachers each year, and independent judges select the scholarship recipients. The full list of the 99 finalist nominees follows at the end of this release.
About the Arts Council of Johnson County:
The Arts Council of Johnson County enhances the quality of life in Johnson County by strengthening the arts.
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2024 Shooting Stars Program Finalists, Nominating Teacher and Schools
Literature (prose/poetry)
Nathan Anderson nominated by Kristen Huang, Mill Valley High School
Cil Hoch nominated by Amy Andersen, Shawnee Mission East High School
Natalie Hopper nominated by Amber McElfresh, Heritage Christian Academy
Harrison Jones nominated by Casey Engel, Blue Valley High School
Nathan Montemayor nominated by Deirdre Zongker, Olathe North High School
Alexa Newsom nominated by Kat Buchanan, Blue Valley North High School
Joey Shonkwiler nominated by Anna Hubbard, Kansas City Christian High School
John Wallace nominated by Stacy Goddard, Olathe East High School
Photography
Jai’den Dirks nominated by Kimberly Ruttan, Shawnee Mission Northwest High School
Elizabeth Ford nominated by Carla Roberts, Blue Valley West High School
Reaghan Gaffney nominated by Caro Thomas, Pembroke Hill Upper School
John Hudson nominated by Kristen Pickell, Blue Valley High School
Alexa Oatman nominated by Mary Schulte, Gardner Edgerton High School
Sebastian Reyes nominated by Ryane Jewell, Shawnee Mission West High School
Alex Robertson nominated by Emily Hensley, Blue Valley North High School
Rue Swanson nominated by Adam Finkelston, Shawnee Mission East High School
Caitlyn Toubia nominated by Melissa Sellers, Olathe East High School
Production and Design
Rose Cox nominated by Shawnasea Holst, Shawnee Mission Northwest High School
Ian Flynn nominated by Thomas DeFeo, Shawnee Mission East High School
Ellie Parks nominated by Joseph Patterson, Gardner Edgerton High School
Michael Rathman nominated by David Hastings, Olathe South High School
Ainsley Steenhard nominated by Dustin Pence, Olathe North High School
Leo Steger nominated by Alisha Morris, Olathe West High School
Strings
Sylvia Brown nominated by Jonathan Wiebe, Shawnee Mission South High School
William Clark nominated by Andrew Book, Blue Valley West High School
Gabriel Decker nominated by Judy Erpelding, Blue Valley High School
Eddy Jiang nominated by Amy Fear, Blue Valley High School
Matthew Lee nominated by Joel Martin, Olathe Northwest High School
Carter Steenhard nominated by Cecily Mahan, Olathe North High School
Theatre Performance
Caroline Alley nominated by Jonothan Copeland, Mill Valley High School
Julianna Bowles nominated by David Hastings, Olathe South High School
Brodie Breckenridge nominated by Sara Bryant, De Soto High School
Sydney Carter nominated by Edward Shafer, Olathe East High School
Faryn Clevenger nominated by Derek Cross, Shawnee Mission West High School
Andrew Coddington nominated by Dustin Pence, Olathe North High School
Hannah Hatton nominated by Sydney Kohart, Blue Valley Northwest High School
Layla Ledford nominated by Brian Cappello, Shawnee Mission East High School
Randall Marcum nominated by Starr Peterson, Heritage Christian Academy
Riley Martin nominated by Mark Swezey, Shawnee Mission South High School
Brooke Mertz nominated by Steve Gordon, Maranatha Academy
Leah Pal nominated by Jason Hagg, Olathe Northwest High School
Lily Reiff nominated by Shawnasea Holst, Shawnee Mission Northwest High School
Isabelle VanSyckle nominated by Rachel Cain, Blue Valley North High School
Brooklyn Werth nominated by Kim Spillman, Saint Thomas Aquinas High School
kennedy white nominated by Reed Uthe, Blue Valley West High School
Three-Dimensional Art
Alex Bergman nominated by Stephanie Kates, Shawnee Mission Northwest High School
Annabelle Cavanaugh nominated by Jennifer Hensley, Shawnee Mission East High School
Adriana Cazares nominated by Lori Ludwig, Olathe East High School
Iris Doering nominated by Tim Barnes, Olathe Northwest High School
Logan Fixsen nominated by Sheila Wilkins, De Soto High School
Mary Glasgow nominated by Chelsie Kane, Saint Thomas Aquinas High School
Anafely Hernandez Perez nominated by Elijah Schraad, Shawnee Mission West High School
Gabriella Jordanova nominated by Carly Kimbrough, Blue Valley Northwest High School
Jillian Kramp nominated by Abbey Thomas, Shawnee Mission South High School
Maeve Marien-McManus nominated by Jason Lips, Pembroke Hill Upper School
Lucas Nguyen nominated by Aimee Price, Blue Valley West High School
Geremi Onentia nominated by Madison Sedillo, Blue Valley High School
Alea Schrock nominated by Michele Foster Lowman, Blue Valley Southwest High School
Sam Smith nominated by Ashley Garcia, Olathe North High School
Two-Dimensional Art
AJ Bettes nominated by Douglas Catloth, Shawnee Mission West High School
Honey Brown nominated by Toni Britt, Gardner Edgerton High School
Payton Butler nominated by Melissa Sellers, Olathe East High School
Emma Clement nominated by Erica Matyak, Mill Valley High School
Leo Connelly nominated by Emily Patterson, Blue Valley Southwest High School
Sienna Cox nominated by Terra Henderson, Saint James Academy
Danny Fisher nominated by Allison Mangold, Olathe Northwest High School
Owen Hamer nominated by Sheila Wilkins, De Soto High School
Audrey Hart nominated by Mark Mosier, Blue Valley High School
Lillia Kleinow nominated by Melissa Terryberry, Shawnee Mission Northwest High School
Abby Lee nominated by Adam Finkelston, Shawnee Mission East High School
George Newham nominated by Michael Albrechtsen, Olathe North High School
Noah Panjada nominated by Stephanie Dalley, Shawnee Mission North High School
Lee Rea nominated by Chris LaValley, Blue Valley Northwest High School
Rhea Sadagopan nominated by Thomas Holland, Blue Valley North High School
Andrea Santamaria nominated by Rodger Messersmith, Olathe South High School
Mallory Terrell nominated by Kristin Howard, Heritage Christian Academy
Samantha Woods nominated by Darby Murdock, Blue Valley West High School
Kate Wren nominated by Liz Smith, Notre Dame de Sion High School
Voice Classical
Leah Abai nominated by Pamela Williamson, Olathe Northwest High School
Ellison Bonge nominated by Cassie Banion, Shawnee Mission Northwest High School
McKinley Graves nominated by Jessie Reimer, Mill Valley High School
Braden Magistro nominated by Jason Cole, Saint James Academy
Josh McCall nominated by Elise Peterson, Olathe South High School
Emma Molteni nominated by Ken Foley, Shawnee Mission East High School
Kaitlyn Rongish nominated by Derek Cross, Shawnee Mission West High School
Sam Scoggins nominated by Hannah Stevens, Gardner Edgerton High School
Lily Seitz nominated by Kimberly Modelski, Blue Valley West High School
Katie Stegeman nominated by Catherine Boone, Saint Thomas Aquinas High School
Noah Tarjan nominated by Jaclyn Krulik, Blue Valley North High School
Tyler Taylor nominated by Micah Horton, Olathe North High School
Lucy Wittek nominated by Elizabeth Mulkey, Notre Dame de Sion High School
Winds and Percussion
Ishaan Buddharaju nominated by Justin Love, Blue Valley West High School
Andrea Diehl nominated by Robert Davis, Olathe Northwest High School
Claire Heigele nominated by Jeff Smikahl, Olathe East High School
Griffin Marschall nominated by Matt Bradford, De Soto High School
Kate Marten nominated by Deb Steiner, Mill Valley High School
Ben Nix nominated by Daniel Freeman, Blue Valley North High School
Maren Tims nominated by Bill Thomas, Shawnee Mission West High School
Ruby Wagner nominated by Alex Toepfer, Shawnee Mission East High School
Kevin Ward nominated by Brandon Lesando, Blue Valley Southwest High School
Alex Wood nominated by Chad Coughlin, Olathe South High School