By Sandi Latimer
Staff Writer
Six seniors received scholarships from the West High School Alumni Association during the school’s 30th annual End of the Year Awards Program. As many as 150 students were recognized for various achievements during the May 16 school-wide assembly.
The alumni association, founded in 1992, has been awarding scholarships since 1993 and has given more than $110,000 to West students. Recipients are chosen based on the scholarship application and personal interviews with the association’s six-member Scholarship Committee.
Recipients are:
•Leisha Stainer received the Sid and Pat Cozad Smart 1947 Memorial Scholarship. Sid Smart, a West alumnus, taught science there for many years. His wife, a West alumna, served as the school nurse.
This scholarship is given to a student pursuing a degree in a science-related field. Stainer plans to attend the OSU Newark campus to study nursing. She was on the honor roll all four years, and played volleyball and softball, serving as co-captain of both sports this year. She also played on the co-ed volleyball team for Gladden Community Center. She also helped the YMCA with a garden her sophomore year. She is member of the National Honor Society and was on student council her senior year.
•Mohamed Hassan received the Beverly Kimball Daugherty 1963 Memorial Scholarship. This scholarship came through donations after the retired teacher’s death last December. It is awarded to a student planning to be a teacher.
Hassan plans to attend Columbus State Community College with an interest in both accounting and education. He played soccer, baseball and tennis and was on the honor roll all four year. He received the top algebra student award his sophomore year and the top student globalization award his junior year. He also helps his four younger siblings with their education.
•Christina Dickerson will be attending the Mount Carmel School of Nursing. She has been on the honor roll and the super honor roll, and is a member of the National Honor Society. Dickerson played softball, tennis and basketball. During her sophomore and junior years, she participated in the mentee-mentor program working with lower grade students. In her freshman and junior years she worked with younger children in the Run the Race program.
•Jeffrey Menshouse plans to attend Columbus State Community College to pursue a degree in exercise science and then wants to enter law enforcement.
He has been an altar server at his church the past four years. He has volunteered at COSI in a guest/safety position the past three years. He has been a member of the Columbus Police Explorer program for five years and has attained the rank of lieutenant.
He was inducted in to the National Technical Honors Society his junior year and served a president his senior year. He received an Outstanding Student award in 2013 and 2014, and he was a student ambassador. During spring break, Menshouse completed the Columbus Ohio Fire Fighter’s Boot Camp.
•Brandon Maynard will be attending the OSU Newark campus to pursue a degree in athletic training. He played baseball for four years, serving as captain the last two years. He also played basketball and football. He also served on student council for three years. He has been on the honor roll for four years and is a member of the National Honor Society. For the past four years he has also done fifteen hours a week of property management volunteer work.
•Peggy Pyles will be attending the OSU Newark campus to pursue a degree in psychology. This past year she was on the Gladden Community Center co-ed volleyball team. She played varsity volleyball for four years for the Cowboys sand was captain this past year. She also played softball for three years and was captain this year, and earned the female Scholar-Athlete award her senior year. She was on the student council all four years, and president from 2012 to 2014. She is a member of the National Honor Society.
The Alumni Association began giving scholarships of $400 in 1993 and has been able to increase that amount to $1,500 by holding numerous fundraisers and relying on donations.
