Congratulations to PHS senior Hugh Smith who was surprised by finding out on Monday he is the Marshall County sole recipient of the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship for 2020. The scholarship program is administered by the Independent Colleges of Indiana and includes significant participation by the community foundations serving each of Indiana’s 92 counties; Marshall County; being the Marshall County Community Foundation. Key elements of the scholarship include full tuition, required fees and book stipend for four years. Recipients may attend any public or private, Indiana four-year college or university accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. If Smith decides to attend a college/university outside of that realm, the scholarship will be awarded to the student runner-up for Marshall County, which is Plymouth High School’s Fernanda Cortes. Smith was escorted to the Plymouth High School staff breakroom in-between the second and third hours yesterday by Weidner School of Inquiry @ PHS Director Jennifer Felke. Smith said, “I had no idea what was going on; it all came as a complete surprise to me. I assumed Mrs. Felke just wanted to ask me how the college application process was going, or something similar of nature; I was not expecting to find out about the Lilly Scholarship right then and there.” Once Smith opened the door to the breakroom, he was greeted by his parents, Dr. Timothy and Sarah Smith, members of the PHS and PCSC administration, along with employees of the Marshall County Community Foundation, including Executive Director Linda Yoder, Program Officer and Executive Assistant Jayne Roahrig, and Lilly Scholarship Selection Committee member Beth Styers, who all yelled surprise! Styers said, “It is with great pleasure to be here to present you today with the 2020 Lilly Scholarship award!”
"I would like to thank the Marshall County Community Foundation and the Lilly Endowment for the opportunity to receive this scholarship. I cannot put into words the gratefulness that I have to be given this scholarship,” said Smith. He is ranked 1 out of 231 PHS seniors, and he holds a GPA of 4.109. He said he is interested in attending the University of Notre Dame in the fall to study a STEM-related field, possibly even pre-medicine. However, at this point he’s not 100% certain those are his ultimate plans - Smith is still exploring his options. As a Lilly Endowment Community Scholar, Smith will receive full tuition to the Indiana college or university of his choice. The scholarship also covers required fees and up to $900 per year for books and required equipment.
Cortes is ranked 2nd in the class of 2020 and she currently holds a GPA of 4.088. “I had been notified prior to going into the staff lounge that Hugh had been the winner so I was more excited to be able to congratulate him. I had been told that they had news for me, so I was more on the edge of my seat to find out what was happening,” said Cortes. The selection committee chose Cortes as runner-up finalist of the scholarship. She said, “I am the next option for the Lilly Scholarship if Hugh decides to decline scholarship for reasons such as he will be attending an out of state school.” Cortes said she plans on either attending Indiana University Bloomington or Saint Mary’s College to major in accounting, and minor in Spanish. She said, “I’m extremely honored to have been selected for this position. I am very grateful to the Marshall County Community Foundation for all they do in the Plymouth community.”
The administration at Plymouth High School along with the Plymouth Community School Corporation administration would like to congratulate both Smith and Cortes for being the top Marshall County students for the 2020 Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship.
