Cloverdale senior wins Owen County Lilly Scholarship

Thursday, December 8, 2016

SPENCER -- A Cloverdale High School has been named the 35th Owen County recipient of the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship.

Andrew Johnson of Quincy, the son of Keith and Lori Johnson, will receive full tuition for four years to the Indiana college of his choice plus a $900 yearly stipend for required books and equipment.

The 2016 Owen County Lilly Scholar, Cloverdale High School senior Andrew Johnson, is flanked by his parents, Keith and Lori Johnson of Quincy. Also taking part in the presentation at CHS are (standing, from left) Beth Sewell, CHS counselor; Marie O'Connor, administrative director of the Owen County Community Foundation; Mark Rogers, president and CEO of the OCCF; Sonny Stoltz, CHS principal; Brent Sailor, CHS assistant principal, and Greg Linton, Cloverdale superintendent. Photo courtesy Michael Stanley/Spencer Evening World

Johnson plans on applying to Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and maintaining a double major in biomedical and software engineering. He can now finalize his decision with the added honor of being named a Lilly Endowment Community Scholar.

Through a rigorous application process including an essay, interview and demonstration of outstanding achievements, the Owen Community Foundation has awarded the full-tuition, four-year scholarship since 1998 to the county student demonstrating the highest achievements in academics, service to his or her high school and involvement in the community.

This year, 35 Owen County students were eligible to compete for the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship. Eight students were named finalists and went through an interview with the OCCF Scholarship Committee. Five of the finalists attend Cloverdale High School and three attend Owen Valley High School.

"The Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship is the highest academic scholarship available locally to Owen County students," Mark Rogers, president and CEO of the OCCF, said. "All our candidates and especially the finalists had amazing careers in high school, but after some tough competition Andrew's accomplishments led the way."

Using criteria developed by OCCF's board of directors and approved by Independent Colleges of Indiana (ICI), the scholarship committee evaluated applications and recommended a nominee and alternates. With endorsement by OCCF's board, nominations were then forwarded to ICI for the final selection of the 2017 Owen County recipient.

The Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Program is a statewide initiative of the Lilly Endowment Inc. to help Hoosier students reach higher levels of education. Since its inception, 34 Owen County students have received the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship, enabling them to attend the Indiana colleges of their choice.

Respond to this story

Posting a comment requires free registration: