On April 16, the Excellence in Education program honored the top-achieving high school seniors from Kalamazoo County’s public and non-public high schools. This year, 43 seniors were selected for the honor, which comes with a $1,500 scholarship, a $300 increase this year. Each student also selected and recognized an educator who significantly impacted their K-12 education. Students, their families and their significant educators attended a reception at the Fetzer Center. 

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 established 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 2025 awardees and their significant educators, view the 2025 presentations on the Excellence in Education webpage at kresa.org/exined. 

Congratulations to the 2025 Excellence in Education Student Recipients: 

 
Climax-Scotts High School  
Micayla DeWaal 

Comstock High School 
Isabel Hardwick 

Galesburg-Augusta High School 
Emilie Gensch 

Gull Lake High School 
Landon Harter 
Makenna Martin 
Ellie Worgess 
Zachary Villarimo 

Hackett Catholic Prep 
Grahm Zygadlo 

Kalamazoo Christian High School 
Luke Birchmeier 
Lizzy Pruis 

Kalamazoo Central High School 
Sophia Barnard 
Andrew Westcott 
Clara DeWaele 
Kate Risley 
Nick Alkema 
Brynn Routhier 

Loy Norrix High School 
Eloise Dunfee 
Isaac Scavarda 
Bjorn Nelson 
Hannah Boothby 
Eleanor Cook 
Georgia Edmonds 

Parchment High School 
Brady Caswell 
Caden Ragan 

Portage Central High School 
Jason Shaye 
Ningzhi Luo-Li 
Dewen Luo-Li 
Felix Dong 
Quinn Hague 
Siya Gupta 
Allison Rearick 

Portage Northern High School 
David Shen 
James Kraatz 
David Li 
Aryaman Mishra 
Ivan Tai 
Miles Fagan 

Schoolcraft High School 
Hannah Willoughby 
Arianna Pillot 

Vicksburg High School 
Ethan Jastifer 
Thomas Christiansen 
Grant VanWoert 
Scarlett Hosner