Students honored and awarded scholarships by Medina Kiwanis Club

MEDINA — Every year, Medina Kiwanis Club hosts a luncheon for select high school students to honor them for their accomplishments and give them scholarships and awards. This year, 19 students were honored during the luncheon, which was held on Thursday. Throughout the school year, each high school selected a student who exemplified excellence as the student of the month. "From those monthly winners, a student of the year is chosen for each high school," said Medina County Commissioner Colleen Swedyk, a member of Kiwanis. Each student was given a plaque recognizing their achievement, along with a $500 scholarship given toward their education. The Feckley Foundation assisted with the funding of the scholarships. The Student of the Year awards were given to: Jacob Kodicovic, Black River High School Tyler Hovanec, Brunswick High School Olivia Ortiz, Buckeye High School Kevin Bittaker, Cloverleaf High School Emily Dunn, Highland High School Kaitlyn Fortuna, Medina County Career Center Bradon Timms, Medina High School Andrew Piepho, Wadsworth High School "We are so excited as we send you out into the world that you represent us and we're wishing the best for you," Swedyk said. In addition to the student of the year awards, Medina Kiwanis Club distributed scholarships to 11 Medina County students. Nancy McNeal, the Kiwanis advisor for the Medina Key Club, the Highland Key Club and Buckeye Key Club, gave out three Kiwanis Scholarships to Medina High School students including Alex Henry, Alex Holthouse and Natalie Lapeus. "All three of these young people were there, no matter what the project was the Key Club was doing," McNeal said. From Highland High School, Gabe Colbrunn received a Kiwanis Scholarship for $1,000 and from Buckeye High School, Rayna Burlison received a Kiwanis Scholarship for $1,000. When receiving her award, Burlison came up to discuss some of the successes the Buckeye Key Club had over the school year. The club had a food pantry open for those in need, twice a month they would deliver food to families, and they raised $1,482 for a Buckeye family in need through a pie a teacher in the face fundraiser. "Overall, this year was a huge success for Key Club and I'm so proud of all the work that all of us did," Burlison said. Chosen by the Key Club Scholarship Committee, Abby Hovorka and Bradon Timms were selected to receive the $500 Key Club Scholarship. According to Kiwanis member Dale Weygandt, the Medina Kiwanis Club sponsored an annual golf tournament a few years ago to raise money for various Kiwanis projects. "Money was placed in reserve for scholarships to be given to one boy and one girl from the Medina golf teams," Weygandt said. Hayley Johnson received Girl's Golf Scholarship and Tim Caspio received the Boy's Golf Scholarship. Caspio was placed on the Turnberry 2022 All-Tournament Team with a third-place score of 74 and will be attending the University of Mount Union to play on its golf team. The final scholarship given by the Kiwanis was in honor of Todd D. Brumbaugh, a Medina High School sophomore who died in 1983. Brumbaugh was the president of his class, on the student council, a football player and an active member of the Key Club. His parents set up a scholarship fund in honor of him, which was later picked up by his younger brother. This year's recipients are Alison Kollar and Aurora Vena. Previous recipients also attended the luncheon, including the 2021 recipient Hannah Petrosky. "These are the 'cream of the crop' as noted in their scholarship, involvement in their community and their volunteerism," Weygandt said. Contact reporter Sara Crawford at (330) 721-4063 or scrawford@medina-gazette.com.