Students Recognized for Leadership, Academic Excellence and More

East Central College faculty, staff and administrators recognized many students for their outstanding accomplishments in the past academic year, both inside and outside the classroom.

The ECC Campus Life and Leadership’s annual Student Achievement Night on May 4 was an opportunity to recognize students for leadership, academic excellence, club engagement, success in the classroom and as student employees.

Academic Excellence Award

The Vice President’s Academic Excellence Award was presented to Caroline Miller. This prestigious award recognizes one student each year who demonstrates exemplary academic excellence during their time at ECC.

The recipient must maintain a minimum of a 3.4 GPA, and they must be nominated by a department chair. All nominations were submitted to the College vice presidents for consideration.

Outstanding Student Leader

Maggie Sikes was chosen as the 2023 Outstanding Student Leader. She was nominated by Lisa Hanneken, Business/Accounting faculty member and the club advisor for the Christian Club.

The award recognizes one student for exceptional leadership skills and abilities. Sikes also was chosen as the recipient of the Collaborative Excellence Award, nominated again by Hanneken. This award highlights a student leader who may not always want to be at the forefront as a leader, but whose collaborative spirit proves essential to the success of the club and the maintenance of an encouraging environment.

Club Officer Awards

The awards for club officers are given to student leaders for their contributions as stewards of student engagement on campus. Students are nominated by club advisors.
The following students were recognized for their service as club officers:

• Brooklyn Hyatt, Student Government Association President
  • Theo Krummel, Student Government Association Vice President
  •             Megan Pritchard, Student Government Association Public Relations Officer
  •             Taylor Sikes, Student Government Association Recording Secretary
  •             Augast Haddad, Outstanding Student Government Association Member
  •             Parker Williamson, Art Club President
  •             Abby Stanfield, Art Club Vice President
  •             Lacy Buchanan, Art Club Secretary
  •             David Braun, Art Club Treasurer
  •             Carolyn Horst, Art Club Social Media Representative
  •             Maggie Sikes, Christian Club President
  •             Carly Hamlyn, Phi Theta Kappa President, Chi Delta Chapter
  •             Victoria Plocinski, Phi Theta Kappa Executive Vice President, Chi Delta Chapter
  •             Kaitlynn Myers, Phi Theta Kappa Vice President for Public Relations, Chi Delta Chapter
  •             Annika Brunner, Phi Theta Kappa Vice President for Recording & Finance, Chi Delta Chapter
  •             Riley Klekamp, Phi Theta Kappa Distinguished Chapter Member, Chi Delta Chapter
  •             Annika Brunner, Rotaract Club Vice President
  •             Hunter Sperry, Rotaract Club Secretary & Treasurer

Academic Distinction

Awards of academic distinction are given by faculty members for students exhibiting excellence in academic.

Though these students will likely have a high mark in the gradebook, a student chosen for this award should also demonstrate an understanding of the course material, be an active participant in class, and contribute to the larger culture of succeeding and high-level thinking in the classroom.
The following students were given awards for academic distinction:

• Nathaniel Wissman, Nursing
• Joelle Phillips, Welding
• Jacob Feth, Welding
• William Herbst, Business
• Katarina North, Accounting
• Terry Ahrenhoersterbaeumer, Accounting & Business
• Michael Buhr, Business
• Sean Merriman, Accounting
• Shane Kearbey, Business
• Stephen Casey, Music
• Joshua Liebhart, Music
• Madalyn Montgomery, Music
• Owen Borcherding, Business
• Ian Meyer, Business
• Olivia Vandegriffe, Business
• David Kelch, Accounting
• Grace Hoerstkamp, Business
• Adam Creasy, Media Studies
• Riley Klekamp, Humanities
• Caroline Miller, Humanities
• Emma Thomas, Humanities
• Max Johnson, Humanities
• Adam Vancil, Humanities
• Zack Hill, English Composition
• Katarina North, The Doyle Stricklin Memorial Award for Outstanding Performance in Accounting
• Brianna Gildehaus, Outstanding Performance in Business Award

Spirited Falcon Award

The ECC Spirited Falcon awards are given to students in recognition of perseverance, a consistent willingness to learn and improve, and measured improvement.

This award is designed to honor students who, despite any obstacles they may face during their semester, demonstrated a continued commitment to their education and success as a student.
The following students were given Spirited Falcon awards:

• MacKenzie Rolf, Nursing
• Rose Adams, Reading Composition
• Sean Merriman, Accounting
• Kevin Corley, Humanities
• Crystal Smith, Humanities
• Julia Sampson, Business

Student Employees

The student employees at ECC go above and beyond in their efforts to balance coursework and their student work opportunities.
The following students were recognized as Outstanding Student Workers:

• Hugh Steinman, The Learning Center
• Kyley Henry, The Learning Center
• Chase Schroeder, The Learning Center
• Ian Meyer, The Learning Center
• Julio Gonzalez, The Learning Center
• Miguel Gonzalez, The Learning Center

NAE Honor Society

Adult Education and Literacy students who were recently inducted into the were honored at Student Achievement Night.
The following students were inducted into NAEHS:

• Arellana Zepeda
• Ashley Watson Carrell
• Athena Burke
• Christina McKean
• Gorette Nyirasebura
• Griselda Gonzales
• Heather Mertell
• Jagdish Prasad
• Lauren Hoey
• Mikela Lackey
• Mirwais Amiri
• Mukesh Lnu
• Naresh Jatav
• Rajpoot Lnu
• Rita Mauer
• Shelly McMullin