4/16/23 Two Oshkosh West Seniors Win Herb Kohl Foundation Scholarships
16 April 2023 News
Oshkosh, WI – The Oshkosh Area School District is proud to have two seniors from Oshkosh West High School recognized as 2023 Herb Kohl Educational Foundation Award Recipients.
Ava Berdelman and Hannah Chung were named 2023 Herb Kohl Student Excellence Scholarship recipients for their academic excellence and leadership. The students are among 190 graduating seniors across Wisconsin that will receive a $10,000 scholarship from the Foundation.
“We are incredibly proud of these remarkable students,” said Dr. Bryan Davis, Superintendent of Schools for the Oshkosh Area School District. “This award is a testament to their hard work and commitment to excellence. As a District, we are grateful to be able to provide students with a supportive learning environment that challenges them to reach their full potential.”
Ava Berdelman (pictured above) is a senior at Oshkosh West High School and is excited to graduate as one of the valedictorians of the class of 2023 this spring. She plans to double major in biochemistry and Spanish and will attend either the University of Wisconsin-Madison or New York University in the fall. At Oshkosh West, Ava has been a member of Global Academy for four years where she received her Certificate of Global Competence. She has also been involved in the Oshkosh Twirl Team, tennis, O’Neil National Honor Society, Student Council, Spanish Club, and Rotary Club, where she served as vice-president. She has prioritized giving back to her community and has volunteered at the Day by Day Warming Shelter, Father Carr’s Place 2B, and the Boys and Girls Club of Oshkosh. Since the age of three, Ava has spent countless hours studying baton twirling and dance at Julie’s Touch of Silver Dance Studio. As a member of the Twirling Corps, she has competed at the state, national, and international levels and won a gold medal in Norway as a member of Team USA. She is grateful to her teachers and all those who have supported her and is honored to accept this award.
Hannah Chung is a senior valedictorian at Oshkosh West High Schoo graduating in 2023. Admitted to Princeton, MIT, Stanford, UPenn, Johns Hopkins, Dartmouth, Rice University, and Notre Dame, Hannah plans to study environmental engineering at her final school of choice. She is the recipient of the 2022 FIRST Robotics Competition World Championship Dean’s List Finalist Award, the team lead of 2826 Wave Robotics, co-founder and co-president of the environmental organization The Green Alarm, editor-in-chief of the Oshkosh West Index, concertmaster of the Oshkosh West symphony orchestra, captain of the Oshkosh West Girls Varsity Tennis Team, and president of Rotary Club. Hannah is the developer of the Earth4Us project to separate and transport student food waste to the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh biodigesting facilities for composting and methane-extraction generating green energy—a project she created after taking Harvard University’s Sustainable Development and Design of Renewable Energy Projects courses and studying Marine Science and Sustainability abroad in the Spanish Island of Mallorca. Hannah is honored to accept this scholarship and expresses gratitude to her teachers and friends.
These Wildcats are the embodiment of a bright future!
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