The Community Foundation of Hancock County Announces
2024 Lilly Endowment Inc. Community Scholarship Recipients
GREENFIELD, Ind. (December 1, 2023) – The Community Foundation of Hancock County is pleased to announce the 2024 Lilly Endowment Inc. Community Scholarship recipients. The primary purposes of the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Program are 1) to help raise the level of educational attainment in Indiana; 2) to increase awareness of the roles foundations play in their communities; and 3) to encourage and support the efforts of current and past Lilly Endowment Community Scholars to engage with each other as educational, nonprofit and civic leaders to improve the quality of life in Indiana generally and in local communities throughout the state.
CFHC has the privilege of administering the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship (LECSP) in Hancock County. Each year, CFHC applies for the opportunity to recommend two graduating students to Lilly Endowment for the full four-year tuition scholarship award. Should they accept the application, CFHC implements and supervises the process for selection.
To be eligible to apply for the LECSP in Hancock County, students must be Hancock County residents, attend one of the four Hancock County public high schools, be ranked in the academic top 15% of their graduating class, and plan to pursue a baccalaureate course of study, to be completed in four years, at any accredited Indiana public or private college or university.
Student applications were submitted online and reviewed blindly (without name or contact information) by third-party professional readers represented by experienced out-of-county evaluators. The third-party evaluators selected eight finalists, two students from each Hancock County public high school, who best met the scholarship criteria. Community service is the primary criterion for qualification. Financial need is not a consideration for the LECSP.
The eight finalists were interviewed by a volunteer committee identified by CFHC, all of whom adhere to a strict conflict of interest policy. This committee had the difficult task of selecting two students from the talented pool of eight finalists and submitting their recommendation to Lilly Endowment for approval. The eight finalists were honored at their respective school corporation’s board meetings in November.
The 2024 Lilly Endowment Inc. Community Scholarship recipients are Mya Adams, Mt. Vernon High School and Cameron Mann, New Palestine High School.
Mya Adams
Mt. Vernon High School
Mya is the daughter of David and Mary Adams of Fortville. She plans to attend the University of Notre Dame or Butler University and major in political science, psychology, and history, with plans to pursue a career in public law.
Mya has a heart for helping other students and those who are younger than herself. Mya participates with the parent-led group at Fortville Elementary to execute school activities such as festivals, trunk or treats, dances, and babysitting for PTO meetings. Camp Invention is a day of learning how to apply the principles of S.T.E.M. to inventing new things. Three local elementary schools host the program. Mya was once a participant in the program and is now a counselor. She enjoys how it teaches positive behaviors and fosters growth and youth success. Mya helps prepare crafts weekly at the Vernon Township Public Library, participated in the “Best Buddies” tutoring program in her high school, as well as tutoring middle school students once a week throughout her junior and senior years. Mya has also helped Fortville Elementary teachers prepare their classrooms for the new school year during her summer break.
During Mya’s junior year of high school, she attended a summer leadership program for a week where students were encouraged to identify issues, they noticed within their school corporation. Mya thought mental health struggles, substance abuse, issues at home, and bullying were issues that needed to be addressed. Mya wanted to help struggling students in a personal way. That is when she developed a website, Outreach Tree. QR codes are placed on the back of the bathroom stalls throughout the school. When scanned, it takes you to a website with five different tabs: mental health, drug abuse and addiction, adolescent abuse, bullying; and others. Under each tab is a list of resources, including support groups in the local area, therapists who specialize in the given area, blogs from people who have overcome addiction, the DSM-5 Autism Diagnosis Criteria guide, and more. This year Mya worked to implement this in her school, and her job has been to upkeep the QR codes in the bathrooms, work out all the approval kinks, and spread the word about it. While Mya is the creator of this idea, it is the guidance department’s responsibility to look at student interaction, but she oversees the upkeep as well as communication with the guidance department. This has been a special experience for Mya as her main hope was to “leave my school better than I found it.”
The organization that has been the most important and influential to Mya would be the work she has done at Ballerina’s Academy of Dance. This is a small dance studio owned by a local family. They provide dance classes and life lessons to students ranging from preschool to seniors in high school. Mya would devote time every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to teach lessons to younger children. Here she developed many new relationships with students, parents, and advisors. It taught her how to communicate, lead, and organize. As a part of Mya’s duties, she would compile the music, organize the class rosters, plan lessons for each individual week, and communicate schedules, changes, and ideas to her directors. Every other Thursday, Mya would also come in and clean the entire building to relieve stress off the
already busy lives of the staff there. Mya says, “I learned so many valuable lessons from this experience. I learned to be a dependable human, to give not only resources but time and dedication without expecting anything back in return. I also learned how to manage myself in hard situations, as well as how to be a good communicator in a way that would please both parents and children. I am proud to of been involved with this for the past three years.”
Cameron Mann
New Palestine High School
Cameron is the son of Jeff and Janet Mann of New Palestine. He plans to attend Purdue University and major in pre-med, engineering, or computer science. He hopes to become a
cardiologist. Last year, Cameron was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy and because of this, he would like to be a heart doctor in this community and help kids who face what he has over the last year.
Cameron has been a Fresh Start leader, mentoring incoming 9th graders at NPHS, making them feel more comfortable and answering any questions they have. Each year since 7th grade, Cameron has helped the former middle school running coach lead a group of elementary school runners in a weekly program. He also helped them to prepare for a final race in the last week of the month-long Dragon Flyers Running Program. Cameron is the co-creator of an organization that will create S.T.E.M. lessons and instruct elementary kids on S.T.E.M. careers. The goal is to design fun lessons that revolve around math and science hands-on activities. He has been a planner and participant of the Riley Dance Marathon, which raises thousands of dollars for Riley Hospital for Children. He is a member and volunteer of the Unified Track Team at NPHS. Cameron says, “I was a varsity member of the cross country and track teams all during high school until I was unexpectedly diagnosed with heart disease and had to stop competing. I still help with the team, but now I can understand what it feels like to not be able to do something because of something you can’t control.” Super Pawn Chess is a chess game variant that Cameron invented/designed that uses most of the rules of chess but with several changes related to the pawn pieces. He wants to provide regular chess game sets to county nursing home patients suffering from dementia, like his grandfather, as playing chess is proven to help some with the effects of dementia. Fridays With Fermi is a math workbook researched and designed by Cameron and aimed at upper elementary and middle school students to practice their problem-solving skills without using the internet.
After Cameron’s sister collapsed in 2021 from a previously undiagnosed heart disease, he knew he wanted to do something to support her and to make NPHS as safe as possible for other kids who might face the same kind of crisis. What he didn’t know then is that because of his sister’s diagnosis, he would later be diagnosed with the same kind of cardiomyopathy – a disease that can cause sudden death in certain situations. His sister’s cardiac doctor at Riley is a lead doctor for the Indiana Chapter of Project Adam, so he gave Cameron a contact person to reach out to about how to start the certification at NPHS. Cameron started the first steps last year, but now he and a friend have partnered in a service-learning class this year to complete the certification. “I think this is a very important project, and while there are
many steps to completion, I would like to eventually certify all schools in the county,” says Cameron.
Chemo Radio is the world’s first online radio station targeted toward those who are undergoing chemotherapy treatment. Cameron created this station to provide comfort to those facing treatment. He created this station to help just a little with the down times patients face. He programs the station with upbeat and positive music. “I hope the station gives them some cheer and provides a smile during difficult times.” The station is hosted on Live365, and Cameron must pay for the rights to use the songs to legally broadcast over the internet. Cameron hopes that whether at home or at the hospital, a person wishing to listen could listen from their phone. At last check, Chemo Radio was listened to in 11 countries.
The recipients will be celebrated on December 14, 2023, at 6 p.m. at the Thrive Center, 971 W. US 40, Greenfield, IN 46140.
CFHC provides philanthropic leadership by encouraging giving, learning, community pride, and civic engagement. Working with caring individuals, families, and organizations to create or grow existing permanent endowment funds is critical to the organization’s mission. These funds generate income that is distributed in the form of grants and scholarships to enrich and enhance life in Hancock County, as well as support the donor’s favorite charitable causes, both at home and afar forever. CFHC has granted millions of dollars since its inception in 1992.
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