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HCHS Alumni’s Harrell Scholarship Awarded to Kansas State Freshman

8/22/2011

The Hill City High School Alumni Association (HCHSAA) has announced that the winner of the annual Edna Dean Harrell Scholarship is Morgan Cade. Morgan (see attached photo), a 2011 graduate of Hill City High School, has received $4,000 to support her continuing education. The scholarship winner is chosen annually by the HCHSAA and Mrs. Harrell’s son Dan Harrell. The scholarship was established in 2009, weeks after the passing of Mrs. Harrell. See attached article for additional information.

Award Amount Increased Again. Originally established as a yearly $1,000 scholarship for a deserving Hill City High graduate to continue her or his education, the amount was raised to $1,500 last year. This year, because of increased donations from Mrs. Harrell’s many friends and family and additional support from the HCHSAA, the scholarship amount was increased again to $4,000. Brianna Deenihan was the inaugural winner in 2009. Emily Gansel was the winner a year ago.

Mrs. Harrell, who was born on a farm east of Hill City, Kans. in 1915, graduated from Hill City High in 1932. She spent all but about 13 of her nearly 94 years of life in western Kansas, most of it near Hill City. The majority of her final 30 years, she resided in Hays, about 45 miles from Hill City. For most of her first 18 years of life, Mrs. Harrell lived in a farm house four miles south and two miles west of town, and commuted to elementary school many days by horse or horse-and-carriage (see attached photo of Mrs. Harrell at the home, still standing, in December of 2003). In her long life, Mrs. Harrell witnessed first-hand the world-changing events of the 20th Century – from her humble beginnings growing up without electricity or indoor plumbing through the horrible Dust Bowls and the Great Depression to seeing the devastation of World War II to embracing miraculous technology advances and ushering in the new millennium.

After retiring as nurse practitioner and medical caregiver, Mrs. Harrell was a tireless volunteer for almost 30 years, lending her hand wherever needed to such programs as Foster Grandparents or sitting for hours with those facing the end of life in nursing homes. "Her approach to helping people was pragmatic, not academic," said her son Dan Harrell. "She looked for ways to help people not only face, but enjoy their day-to-day lives, whether that meant studying math with a struggling 6-year-old or telling a humorous story to a 96-year-old. She never stopped thinking about others."

At the age of 84, Mrs. Harrell learned how to use a computer – in particular email, to keep in closer contact with her hundreds of friends, and word processing, so she could better pursue her lifelong practice and love of writing. Two years later, she published the book "Poetry and Prose," a collection of poems and experiences with annotations describing her feelings at the moment she wrote the piece. The initial printing sold out in just a few months and is now out of print but available at the Hill City, Hays and other libraries throughout Kansas and the US. It is also now part of the prestigious permanent collections in the Kenneth Spencer Research Library at the University of Kansas.

In 1965, she was a driving force in establishing the Hill City High School Alumni Association and occupied leadership positions in the organization for more than two dozen years. She wrote the column "Your Classmates and Mine" for the Hill City Times for more than 20 years. She had three sons, two now deceased, who also graduated from Hill City High, and remained a strong "Ringneck" supporter all her life. Helping to create the HCHSAA was one of her proudest accomplishments. Her extensive collection of Hill City, Hill City High and western Kansas memorabilia has been presented to the Graham County Historical Society and various pieces can be seen at their museum in Hill City.

Morgan Cade Thankful and Surprised by Win – Morgan had this to say after she was notified of winning: "I am so thankful to have received the Edna Harrell Scholarship. I was so excited when I got the phone calls from Dirk Parks and Dan Harrell. I was not expecting it at all, and it was a great surprise. I want to thank [them] and everyone else involved with all the Hill City High School alumni scholarships. I feel so blessed and honored to have been given this scholarship."

Without the scholarship, Morgan said, she might not have been unable to attend K-State. "It really helps lift the stress of how my family and I will be able to afford my schooling, which allows me to focus more on my school work and enjoying this exciting time in my life. I am so glad that my family moved to Hill City. I have really enjoyed the four years that I have gotten to spend here. I know there are a lot of things that I will miss, while I am at college, but I am really looking forward to this new adventure in my life. Thank you again so much! You don't know how much this helps me and my family. I am so grateful to you."

Morgan maintained an outstanding 4.0 high school grade point average – without a single grade below "A" – finishing first in her class, while completing the most challenging coursework she could find. That included Accounting, Calculus, Physics and Spanish III, just in her senior year!

Morgan was chosen from more than 15 finalists, who are required to submit an application, high school coursework and grades, a personal reference and two essays describing their inspirations and why they deserve the award. This information must be received by the Alumni Association by the end of their senior year.

Announcing the award, Dan Harrell commented, "Every year this gets more difficult, and this year was no exception. This year, the candidates were required to submit more information and do a bit of original writing too, under the excellent new rules established by Dirk Parks. Still, more than a few candidates did a super job, and making the final choice was hard. As always it required at lot of thought and some help and consultation with Dirk and others to come to a final decision."

"However, Morgan’s academic excellence, her touching essay about her inspirations and a very well thought-out explanation of why she deserved to win could not be ignored in the end," Harrell said. Although Morgan could certainly do whatever she wishes in life, she noted a genuine desire to help people, especially children, saying: "I want to work with foster children. I have had a passion for helping kids in foster care since I was in the fifth grade. I hope to move back to a rural community to work with children after I graduate." And continued, "It’s important [for me] to give to others, even if all I have to give is my time."

"That is an amazing comment," Harrell said. "and it sounded just like my Mom, who I’m certain would have congratulated Morgan for such compassionate thinking at her early age."

Morgan is the daughter of Debbie and Shelby Cade. At K-State in Manhattan, Kans., she is majoring in Social Work with a minor in Spanish. She will be writing a note later this year, after this college semester ends, to tell more about how she spent the money and describe her first impressions of college life, Harrell said. In addition, Morgan will be helping raise awareness of and money for future HCHSAA scholarships.

Dan Harrell and the HCHSAA wish to sincerely thank the many donors and well wishers who continue to support this scholarship. Those who would like more information, or wish to make donations for next year’s scholarship, are asked to contact Dirk Parks at the Alumni Association in Hill City or Dan Harrell, who lives in San Jose, Calif. (see contact numbers at top).

"After a slow start this year, we finished with an record amount in donations," Harrell said. "I am so honored to even know the great people who help me make this scholarship possible, whether they donate or not. I can’t think of a better way to remember a great citizen. My Mom would have been deeply grateful to all of you. In particular, I want to thank Dirk Parks, president of the HCHSAA, and others in the association for their help, and salute Dirk’s heroic efforts year-after-year to provide scholarships for Hill City seniors." This year, the HCHSAA plans to award a record number of scholarships amounting to many thousands of dollars, including the one honoring Mrs. Harrell.