State Bank Commissioner Deryl Schuster, Sen. Mitch Holmes, Kaitlyn Dinges, Gov. Sam Brownback, Rep. John Ewy, Securities Commissioner Josh Ney
TOPEKA, Kan. — Kansas Securities Commissioner Josh Ney and Kansas State Bank Commissioner Deryl Schuster announced the winners of the 2015 Financial Scholars Essay Contest Thursday in an awards ceremony held at the Kansas state capitol. The contest was jointly sponsored by the Office of the Kansas Securities Commissioner (KSC) and the Office of the State Bank Commissioner (OSBC).
A total of five scholarships, ranging from $500 to $2500, were awarded to Kansas high school seniors to help cover the cost of tuition at a Kansas school of higher education.
Students were asked to submit an essay profiling an individual whose personal financial decisions impacted the lives of others and applying the wisdom or lessons from that person’s life to their own future financial plans. To be eligible, students must have participated in at least one of three financial literacy programs sponsored by the state agencies: EverFi, the Stock Market Game, or Life$marts.
Abby Oberle, a senior at De Soto High School, won the top prize of $2,500.
Other scholarship winners in attendance were: 2nd place: Kaitlyn Dinges, Ness City High School; 3rd place: Keeley Taylor, Haven High School; and 4th place: Paden Griffiths, Herington High School. The 5th place winner, Broque Short from Derby High School, was unable to attend due to a prior commitment.
Dinges won a $2,000 scholarship.
She wrote her essay about her parents, who taught Kaitlyn many valuable lessons about business and money management. The following is an excerpt from her essay:
“My parents have made a huge positive impact on my future in numerous ways. With all of the information they instilled upon me at an early age, I feel ahead of many of my peers because of the monetary background I have. This will prove very useful in the near future when I’m living on my own and budgeting for college, living expenses, and my hobbies.”
Kaitlyn plans to attend Fort Hays State University next year, where she will compete on the rodeo team and dual-major in Business and Finance with an emphasis in Agricultural Economics.
She traveled to Topeka for the ceremony along with her mother Brenda Dinges and teacher Tonya Fenley. At the capitol, Kaitlyn was also recognized by Governor Sam Brownback and local legislators Senator Mitch Holmes and Representative John Ewy.
The commissioners for both of the sponsoring agencies were impressed with the quality of the winning essays and wished the recipients well. “It is inspiring to see so many of our young people making financial responsibility a priority in their lives,” said Ney. “Congratulations to our winners and thank you to all of the participants who entered.”
“I commend every student who participated in the Kansas Financial Scholars Essay Scholarship Contest. It is clear from the essays that students recognize the importance of making sound financial decisions and how those decisions will benefit them in the future,” said Schuster. “I extend my congratulations to our award winners and wish them every success as they pursue their higher education goals.”
All students who submitted an essay into the contest received a $10 Amazon gift card to be used toward the purchase of a financial app, tool, or book of their choice.