Local Daughters of the American Revolution Chapter Honors Good Citizens Winners

(THIS YEAR'S D-A-R GOOD CITIZENS AWARD WINNERS ARE FRONT ROW LEFT TO RIGHT: COURTNEY HOENE OF TEUTOPOLIS HIGH SCHOOL; KOURTNEY CORDES OF EFFINGHAM HIGH SCHOOL; CLAIRE GARDNER OF BEECHER CITY JUNIOR/SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL; AND SARA STEPHENS OF COWDEN-HERRICK HIGH SCHOOL; AND BACK ROW LEFT TO RIGHT: LOGAN KLITZING OF ST. ANTHONY HIGH SCHOOL; TANNER CLARK OF STEWARDSON-STRASBURG HIGH SCHOOL; AND TYLER HIGGS OF DIETERICH HIGH SCHOOL. NOT PRESENT WAS DYLAN MARBLE OF ALTAMONT HIGH SCHOOL)

The Ann Crooker St. Clair Chapter of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution honored the 2018 Good Citizens winners at Saturday's meeting.

The NSDAR holds the Good Citizens Program and Scholarship contest yearly. This program is a way for chapters to recognize young people who exhibit the qualities of good citizenship in their homes, schools, and community. The Ann Crooker St. Clair Chapter has eight schools in their allotted area.

Each school may select one Good Citizen. Selected students may then participate in the scholarship essay contest. They receive the title/subject for their essay at the time they write it and are given a two-hour time period to complete the essay. The finished essay along with student information, grade transcripts and letters of recommendation are then submitted to the NSDAR chapter. The chapter then uses guidelines provided by NSDAR to judge entries, sending one entry on to District for State judging. State winners are then judged on a National basis where two winners are chosen and honored with scholarships at Continental Congress each year.

The Ann Crooker St. Clair chapter NSDAR presented these students with Good Citizen’s certificates:

--Logan Klitzing, son of Mike and Maria Klitzing. Logan attends St. Anthony High School. He plans to attend Quincy University and major in Computer Science with the goal to become a video game developer.

--Kourtney Cordes, daughter of Kayla Cordes. Kourtney attends Effingham High School. She plans to attend Lake Land College then transfer to the University of Illinois and obtain a Bachelor’s in Food Science and Human Nutrition. She would love to become a food product developer and Registered Dietician. She hopes to obtain her Doctorate eventually so she can teach Food and Nutrition at a small university.

--Claire Gardner, daughter of Thomas and Anna Gardner. Claire attends Beecher City Jr./Sr. High. She plans to attend Indiana State University and major in Finance. After obtaining her degree, she plans to move back to Effingham as a financial planner or advisor.

--Courtney Hoene, daughter of Bert and Kathy Hoene. Courtney attends Teutopolis High School. She plans to attend a university to obtain a degree in animal sciences then go on to Veterinarian School to receive her DVM.

--Sara Stephens, daughter of Lana Stephens and Billy Stephens. She attends Cowden-Herrick High School. She plans to enroll in Heartland Community College to earn an Associate in Arts then transfer to Illinois State University for her Bachelor’s degree. Her goal is to be a self-employed event photographer.

--Tanner Clark, son of Jack and Pamela Clark. Tanner attends Stewardson-Strasburg High School. He plans to attend Lake Land College this fall and get a degree in Engineering Science then transfer to University of Illinois to get his Chemical Engineering degree.

--Tyler Higgs, son of Eric and Tammy Higgs. Tyler attends Dieterich High School. He plans to attend Massachusetts Institute of Technology this fall with hopes to become a physicist or other scientific researcher. He hopes to improve the quality of the world through science and engineering.

Unable to be present at the March meeting was the last recipient Dylan Marble, son of Kelly and Jim Degane and Jared and Bethany Nelson. Dylan attends Altamont High School. He plans to attend Lakeland College and the transfer to a university to achieve a Bachelor’s in Computer Science with plans to become a computer programmer.