Excellence in Education recognized the top-achieving high school seniors from Kalamazoo County’s public and non-public high schools on Wednesday, April 10. This year, 45 seniors were selected for the honor, which comes with a $1,200 scholarship. Each student will also recognize an educator who significantly impacted their K-12 education. Students, their families and their significant educators attended a reception at the Fetzer Center.

“The Kalamazoo area has a long history of educational excellence and innovation, so it is fitting that we continue the tradition of honoring those practices through the Excellence in Education program,” said committee chair Keevin O’Neill, superintendent of Vicksburg Community Schools.

A collaborative effort among KRESA, all Kalamazoo County public and non-public schools, local foundations, educational groups and the business community, Excellence in Education was designed in 1986 to focus community attention on the academic and professional excellence of graduating high school seniors and educators within Kalamazoo area schools.

The Excellence in Education program is supported by a permanent endowment established at the Kalamazoo Community Foundation. Funding for the endowment was raised through the leadership of the Monroe-Brown Foundation, with strong support from local foundations, businesses, organizations and individuals.

For more information on the 2024 awardees and their significant educators, view the 2024 Student Presentation on the Excellence in Education web page at kresa.org/exined.

The 2024 Excellence in Education Student Recipients are:

 
Climax-Scotts High School 
Ryan DeHaan 

Comstock High School
Summer Beavers
Isabelle Jorgensen

Galesburg-Augusta High School
Korbin Nigg

Gull Lake High School
Paul Dykstra, Jr.
Evan Kaiser
Ethan Peterson
Charlie Waldorf

Hackett Catholic Prep
Alex Dugas
Michael Dugas

Kalamazoo Christian High School
Paige Triemstra

Kalamazoo Central High School
Jude Boussom
Liberty Cottick
Abigail Evans
Aliah Mohmand
Aiden Rudlaff
Emiliee Rudlaff

Loy Norrix High School
Bridgette Bol
Odessa Clemente
Isabella Essink
Zoe Reeves
Aaron Teal
Nateya Thomas

Parchment High School
Isabelle Headley
Kriss Patel

Portage Central High School
Cole Cahill
Ethan Connolly
Ashley O’Donnell
Cameron Olson
Lukas Price
Prakash Shekhar
Emelia VanDerWoude

Portage Northern High School
Kirby Bach
Nathan Gleason
Anshul Mohanty
Lucas Oeming
Kenneth Seybold
Rohan Singh

Reformed Heritage Christian
Hannah Schreuder

Schoolcraft High School
Idilio Bragagnini
Grace Mohney

Vicksburg High School
Clara Centofanti
Carter Johnson
Luke Malocha
Zane Sandelin