The 2016–2017 100 High School Girls scholarship committee met on March 23, 2017, to read essays submitted by 34 Kansas City high school student applicants. Although there were 37 fewer applicants than last year, the quality of the essays was outstanding. (We had two fewer schools to select from due to the closing of the Southwest Early College Campus and Van Horn moving to the Independence school district.)

The final three 100 High School Girls scholarship recipients are: Rapuluchukwu Okolo from Paseo Academy, Sylvia Joerke from Paseo Academy, and Rae Nia Hill from Northeast High School. This year we added a book scholarship in lieu of holding an awards event at Bruce R. Watkins Cultural Heritage Center. The winner of the book scholarship is Chebet Bucker from Lincoln Academy. Congratulations to all the applicants!

Many thanks to Paula Coyote Schaaf who arranged a meeting space at Penn Valley Community College for the committee to read and select our winners. Special thanks to committee members: Earlene Bentley, Kathleen Brandt, Mollie Caldwell, Riva Capellari, Cynthia Ginn, Stefanie Hatfield, Ellen Johnson, Dodie Murphy and Jane Vincent for their hard work and dedication.