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April 30, 2025

$190,000 Scholarships Awarded to 154 Seniors from Bennington High School

Bennington High School Class of 2025 Seniors at Senior Academic Awards Ceremony

Over $190,000 in scholarships were awarded to 154 students from Bennington High School class of 2025 at the Bennington Public Schools Foundation’s Senior Academic Awards Ceremony on Sunday, April 27, 2025.

Students planning to attend both two-year and four-year colleges or technical schools are eligible to receive scholarships from BPS Foundation and local organizations. They are recognized for a variety of criteria such as academic achievement, extracurricular involvement, and community service.

This year BPS Foundation alone awarded $154,150 in scholarships for 147 graduating seniors. The first BPS Foundation scholarship was given in 1998 for $300.  Today, BPS Foundation has now given out a total of 722 scholarships, totaling approximately $891,150. Several students were also awarded with scholarships from local organizations totaling approximately $30,000. 

In an effort to impact even more students, BPS Foundation implemented new Merit GPA scholarship categories for seniors who earned a 3.0+ GPA with no ACT score requirement, enabling 72 additional students to receive scholarships this year. This change reflects the BPS Foundation’s commitment to its updated mission, which was revised in August 2024 through its Strategic Plan process, to ensure that the foundation meets the diverse needs of all students, regardless of standardized test scores.
 

Building on this commitment to better serve students, BPSF also took action to enhance how it recognizes the achievements of these seniors.

“In the past, our event was dedicated solely to honoring scholarships, but BHS Administration approached us with a challenge: the BHS Academic Awards Night, which previously celebrated students from Freshman to Senior year, had become increasingly long and rushed due to the exceptional talent across all grade levels,” said Blake Thompson, BPSF Executive Director, “With so many remarkable students to recognize, it was no longer providing the senior class with the focused recognition they deserved. We saw an opportunity to help and, in collaboration with BHS Administration and Counseling Staff, combined the scholarship ceremony with the academic honors awards. This streamlined approach allowed us to better honor our senior students while also easing the workload on the staff and ensuring a more meaningful experience for everyone involved.”
 

Through this collaboration, seniors were also recognized with academic honors including BHS Academic Wall of Honor, BHS Academic Letter, First Semester Presidents and Deans List, and Omaha World-Herald Academic Honors. In total 177 seniors from the Class of 2025 were recognized at the ceremony. 

 

BPS FOUNDATION MERIT BASED SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS INCLUDE: 

Merit ACT GPA Platinum $1,750: Edward Abina, Ella Andersen, Jase Backlund, Alexis Carlile, Lillian Dall, Baylor Detjens, Cameron Dossett, Andrea Dugan, John Elftmann, Ellie Evans, Hudson Foreman, Amelia Haley, Addison Hartley, Henry Houska, Morgan Iske, Hunter Johnson, Andrew Karolski, Mary Knott, Will Koesters, Jayden Lincoln, Maya Lowther, Rowan McGuire, Asher Petersen, Beau Pick, Jocelyn Pohl, William Puck, Elizabeth Robinson, Gracie Rohe, Hunter Spencer, Rysdon Tomlinson, and Logan Wyant.
 

Merit ACT GPA Gold $1,400: Ethan Allgood, Emmersyn Cornett, Tysen Fleischman, Cooper Johnson, Cassidy Jorgensen, Ava Kuntz, Madeline Maupin, Peyton McFarland, Lily Puntney, Jacob Strader, Charlotte Thiltgen, Owen Uldal, Mason Williams, Victoria Zheng.
 

Merit ACT GPA Silver $1,250: Leela Becker, Olivia Behlen, Tavian Daniels, Breanna Dent, Jack Eckholt, Houston Hill, Jack Hohman, Jack Jansen, Mason Kuhl, Kyler Lauridsen, Clint McMahan, Jake Newcomer, Graycie Newton, Austin Nissen, Gabriel Nyman, Avery Rininger, Cole Rininger, Maren Roberts, Korynne Root, Morgan Schuman, Reannah Scott, Braidon Singh, Aidan Smith, Collin Stevens, Isaac Vondra, Violet Wilwerding, Ethan Zelasney.
 

Merit GPA Platinum $750: Morgan Anderson, Rowyn Anderson, Riston Aschoff, Wind-daabo Ba, Presley Baca, Sydney Biggerstaff, Addison Bird, Addison Birge, Ben Bouaphakeo, Lauretta Djondo, Patience Dodson, Katelyn Dossett, Kaitlyn Ferris, Jace Fitzgerald, Alison Frauendorfer, Avery Fuller, Apekshya Ghimire, Hallie Hawk, Eva Herber, Alexis Hiatt, Emma Huntley, Reese Jensen, Ava Kaiser, Pauline Karenju, Jared Larsen, Lily Laughlin, Allison Miller, Hannah Mitchell, Ava Molina, Colin Nemecek, Lance Nielsen, Gavin Olson, Maycee Peacher, Lydia Pile, Jack Pohlmann, Morgan Portwood, Addison Reinoehl, Olivia Sangster, Aurora Theilen, Tabetha Tribble, Josie Worth, Hailey Wynn.

 

Merit GPA Gold $500: Logan Coleman, Nic Deyo, Ava Dickson, Skyelar Edens, Austin Kaiser, Jocelyn Lime, Christian Moreno, Leyla O’Connor, Lucy Roth, Nate Stier.

 

Merit GPA Gold $250: Elliott Andersen, Ashlyn Arnold, Layne Boever, Mason Buechler, Matthew Buurman, Carter Ferris, Georgie Green, Skye Hawke, Vanchessa Heywood, Mason Hofts, Keatyn Liebsack, Ava Lindaas, Nyssa Lockwood, Katherine Musel, Calin O'Grady, Haley Peatrowsky, Aidan Petula, Owen Toelle, Abbigail White.
 

BPS FOUNDATION SUPPLEMENTAL SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS INCLUDE:

Career $1,000: Layne Boever, Addison Buroker, Nate Stier, Charlotte Thiltgen, Kien Walsh.

Forever BPS Legacy Scholarships

  • Darrell & Coe Leta Logemann Scholarship $2,500 renewable up to 4 years: Wind-Daabo Ba, Ben Bouaphakeo, Avery Fuller, Henry Houska, Katherine Musel, Andrew Karolski, Keatyn Liebsack, Victoria Zheng
  • Lee & Kathy Bunz Endowed Scholarship $1000: Emma Huntley
  • Gene Baldwin Memorial Scholarship $1000: Ella Andersen
  • Saunders Memorial Scholarship $500: Vanchessa Heywood
     

All Star Kids Employee: 

  • 1 Year Employee $500: Kambree Everhart 
  • 2+ Year Employee $750: Alexis Carlile, Eva Herber, Mason Williams

LOCAL COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS INCLUDE: 

  • American Legion 266: Skyelar Edens, Hudson Foreman, Clint McMahan, Christian Moreno
  • American Legion Auxiliary 266: Emma Huntley, Katherine Musel
  • Bennington Athletic League:  Presley Baca, Ben Bouaphakeo
  • Bennington Basketball Association:  Presley Baca, Addison Reinoehl, Austin Kaiser
  • Bennington Chamber of Commerce:  Carter Ferris
  • Bennington Community Foundation Dave Clark Memorial: Carter Ferris
  • Bennington Education Association: Lilian Dall, Avery Fuller, Korynne Root
  • Bennington Elementary PTO: Jase Backlund, Alison Frauendorfer, Hudson Neuverth, Jack Hohman
  • Bennington Jaycees: Jack Jansen, Hunter Johnson, Maycee Peacher
  • Bennington Lions Club: Emmersyn Cornett, Kaitlyn Ferris, Ava Kaiser, Andrew Karolski, Aurora Theilen
  • Bennington Music Boosters: Avery Fuller, Cassidy Jorgensen, Mary Knott, Jocelyn Pohl
  • Bennington Wrestling Club: Ben Bouaphakeo, Maycee Peacher
  • Bennington Youth Football: Elliott Andersen, Houston Hill
  • BHS Athletic Booster Club: Alexis Hiatt, Morgan Iske, Kyler Lauridsen, Maycee Peacher
  • Douglas County Farm Bureau: Katherine Musel
  • GEARS: Nate Stier
  • Heart of a Champion: Jack Pohlman
  • Heritage Elementary PTO: Morgan Anderson, Ben Bouaphakeo, Alexis Carlile, Emma Huntley
  • Jeff Glover Memorial: Jack Pohlman
  • Pine Creek PTO:  Jack Pohlman, Tabitha Tribble
  • Red Cross Blood Drive Scholarship: Lauretta Djondo
  • Sons of the American Legion 266: Katherine Musel
  • TeamMates of Bennington: Aidan Snyder, Nikki Thomas
  • West O Chamber: Jace Fitzgerald

View Scholarship Criteria 

Interested in establishing your own scholarship? Contact Executive Director Blake Thompson at 531.329.3710 or bthomspon@bennps.org.

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Our Impact This Year

  • Schools Served

    8

  • Focus Programs Served

    14

  • Students Empowered

    4,243

  • Teachers & Staff Supported

    521

  • Financial Impact

    $3M

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