Washburn Institute of Technology recognized incoming and current students who were awarded scholarships for their programs at a ceremony Sept. 27. The students were welcomed by the scholarship committee as well as donors who helped make the scholarships possible. The event started with a congratulatory presentation.

They handed out about 115 scholarships ranging between $250 to $4,000 to the fall 2018 recipients. The students were recognized individually as their names were called for their awards. Some students received multiple scholarships. The students were told the names of the scholarships they were awarded when they received the scholarship at the ceremony.

Kathryn Stroebele, director of student transitions, helped organize the ceremony. She started at Washburn Tech in 2004, and she was the associate dean for student services.  Depending on the program, they award scholarships based on grants and donors. Stroebele said the locomotive diesel scholarship is an award that is overlooked by many students.

“It does help us recruit students to some programs, but most of our students enroll and then find out about the scholarships,” Stroebele said. “We award scholarships to most students who are just beginning their program.”

Almost every program has a scholarship that its students can apply for. The biggest bulk of their funding comes from JEDO and Go Topeka. Barbara Stapleton is the vice president of work force and education for Go Topeka, which is the economic development portion of the Greater Topeka partnership.

“JEDO scholarships are focused on programs that are targeted as high wage, high demand programs,” Stapleton said. “This is determined by the state Department of Labor and the Kansas Board of Regents, and it focuses on needs within the workforce in terms of high demand and scholarships within those programs to make sure the students can afford.”

Thirty-two new and renewed JEDO scholarships were awarded to recipients. The JEDO scholarships were an award of $500 a piece.

Washburn Tech announces the scholarships in multiple ways, including preparing a summary of the scholarships and the qualifications, which can be found on the washburntech.edu website, as well as hard copies available in Student Services.

“I make an effort to go around to every classroom that has a scholarship available to promote it one-on-one in the classrooms,” Stroebele said. “We always try.”

Washburn Tech faculty encourage their students to apply for any scholarships they are eligible for.

Following the ceremony, the recipients took photos with the donors and other scholarship winners. They also enjoyed cookies and iced tea before and after the ceremony.