Blue Valley West grad honored with scholarship

Kara Tenpenny, 2009 graduate of Blue Valley West (BVW), knows what it's like to be appreciated by her employer. Since June 2008, Kara has worked as a dining server at Tallgrass Creek. On July 21, John Harned, executive director of Tallgrass Creek, presented her with a $250 scholarship check to put towards her tuition at Emporia State University. And, there's plenty more where that came from. The scholarship, which was completely resident-funded, will be renewed each semester while Kara is attending Emporia State. Residents took up a collection and raised more than $2,000.

Because Tallgrass Creek is a fairly new facility, this is the first year a Scholars Fund has been awarded. For this year only, the scholarship award will be $250 per semester for a total of eight semesters. In the future, Tallgrass Creek hopes to raise even more money and increase the amount of the scholarship award for the next eligible student. In order to qualify for next year's scholarship, students must have worked at Tallgrass Creek for at least two years and be a high school senior.

Kara said that what she does at Tallgrass Creek "doesn't feel like work."

"I've gotten to know many of the residents here and have developed special relationships that I will always remember," she said.

During her time at BVW, Kara was on the track team and served as the football manager for three years. She has two older sisters, both of whom graduated from Emporia State. Kara plans to major in elementary education and hopes to become a teacher. She said that being a teacher has always been the one thing she has wanted to do.

"I can't imagine doing anything else with my life."