Achievers

Abigail Coombs has been awarded a $2,000 scholarship from the Scholarships for Military Children Program. The program is open to qualified sons and daughters of members of the U.S. Armed Services. 

Richie McKinney has made the academic Dean’s List at the University of New Haven for the Spring semester, 2018. This is the second time in the last two years that McKinney has made the Dean’s List, which requires a GPA of 3.50 or better in any one semester. 

Ashley Rohrer, a senior music major at Grove City College, has been named to the Dean’s List with High Distinction for the Spring 2018 semester. Ashley is a 2014 graduate of Kodiak High School and is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Rohrer (Jill) from Kodiak, AK. She was one of 578 seniors to earn their degree from Grove City College on May 19, 2018, earning a Bachelor of Music degree.

Alaska is known as the biggest state, but it’s quickly gaining a reputation for even bigger ideas as NASA has asked high school students in Kodiak and the Yukon-Kuskokwim area to develop concepts and research on city and community sustainability for NASA’s first-ever global CitySmart conference in Florence, Italy.

Kodiak Elks announced the following Kodiak Middle School students of the semester.

Nami Ikawa of Kodiak has had her poetry entry in the National High School Poetry Contest accepted for publication. The poem titled “Racing to the Future” appeared recently in the winter edition of the American High School Poets “My World” anthology.

Ben Kondro, left, and Parry Nelson hold the deer antlers that earned them the top places in the 2016 Big Buck Contest from among 68 entries, Thursday at Big Ray’s. Nelson’s prizes for first place included a Winchester rifle. The complete list of winners and the rack scores: 1. Perry Nelson, 119 4/8; 2. Ben Kondro, 115 4/8; 3. David Reft, 114 1/8; 4. Meierotto, 112 4/8; 5. Nick Mangini, 111 2/8; 6. Travis Burke, 109 4/8; 7. Jen Cooper, 109 1/8; 8. Zack Ward, 108 3/8; 9. Hunter Wagner, 108 1/8; 10. Shane Nicholson, 107 0/8; Little Buck, Jake Jacobson; Lucky Buck Nick Troxell.

The Rotary Youth Merit Award recognizes two Kodiak Middle School students per grade level who display characteristics of service, dependability and leadership. All KMS students who receive a Rotary Youth Merit Award are acknowledged by the Kodiak Rotary Club.

City of Kodiak employee Philip “Bear” Becker was named Water Operator of the Year (over 1,000 population) at the Alaska Rural Water Association’s 18th annual training conference held Oct. 31-Nov. 2 in Anchorage Hotel.

Kodiak’s 4-H held its Harvest Festival on Oct. 15 at the fairgrounds.

Anelise Zimmer of  Kodiak, a recent graduate of Willamette University, has received a Fulbright U.S. Student Program grant to Malaysia to teach English from the U.S. Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. Zimmer will be lecturing at a rural Malaysian high school as part of the English Teaching Assistantship program.

Karina Zyatitsky of Port Lions was awarded a Nordic Skiing Association of Anchorage scholarship, supporting high school seniors and college skiers for their dedication to cross-country skiing and academic achievements. She is among 46 Alaskan students to educational opportunities through Alaska Community Foundation scholarships so far in 2016.

Stewart McDonald has been named “Alaska Superintendent of the Year” for 2017 by the Alaska Superintendents Association, according to a release from the Kodiak Island Borough School District.

Karena Lynn Rounsaville received her Doctor of Medicine degree from Rush University on May 26 in Chicago, Illinois. Eight days later she was married to Saul Whitworth of Bellingham, Washington, becoming Dr. Karena Whitworth. She will complete her residency in the Seattle area and then move to Bellingham to practice family medicine. Karena is the daughter of Steven and Darlene Rounsaville.