KOHLER FOUNDATION GIVES SCHOLARSHIPS TO

FOUR OUTSTANDING SHEBOYGAN COUNTY STUDENTS

Committee awards HVK and RDK scholarships totaling $320,000

          May 23, 2019, Sheboygan, Wis. – Three Sheboygan County high school seniors have been awarded the Herbert V. Kohler Scholarship, and one senior has received the Ruth DeYoung Kohler Scholarship, each in the amount of $80,000.

 Over the past week, the prestigious HVK scholarship was awarded to multiple winners Noah Bartelt, North High School; Michael Troka, Plymouth High School; and Cecelia Zielke, Kohler High School. The distinguished RDK scholarship was awarded to senior Clara Montes, Kohler High School.

 Kohler Foundation’s Scholarship Committee has elected to award more than one HVK Scholarship this year. “While rare, there is precedent for multiple HVK scholarships in the award’s 50-year history,” explains Natalie Black Kohler, Kohler Foundation president and scholarship committee chair. “Every HVK nominee is an outstanding student, and a leader in their own unique way. This year, however, we were honored to recognize three extraordinary students, each with his or her own distinct vision for how they plan to change the world.”

 The HVK Scholarship acknowledges students who best demonstrate academic excellence, creativity, candor, service to school and community, the ability to affect change and the qualities of leadership.

 Noah Bartelt, son of Elizabeth and Paul Bartelt of Sheboygan Falls, Wis., will graduate North High School as valedictorian. His achievements include service as a Wisconsin State Senate scholar and a leader in FIRST Robotics. A teacher of Bartelt’s said what sets Noah apart is his extraordinary leadership ability to help others actualize their potential as students, citizens and human beings. Bartelt has an unrelenting determination to make the world around him better. He will study public policy with a secondary major in mechanical engineering, at Stanford University. His career goal is to become a civil rights attorney.

 Graduating Summa Cum Laude from Plymouth High School, Michael Troka, son of Anne and Michael Troka of Plymouth, Wis., has been an Academic Bowl top performer, chairman of the blood drive, and varsity sports letter winner. He has helped build a spirit of community as a student council representative, class president, mentor and tutor.

 Troka will study biology and pre-dental at the University of Pennsylvania, with a career goal of dental research and dentistry.

 He describes receiving the award as a catalyst for his continued innovation. Troka wants to dig deeper and think bigger to benefit humanity in the field of regenerative dental medicine.

 Known for her passion in academics, athletics, research and community outreach, Cecelia Zielke, daughter of Bridgitt and Stephen Zielke of Kohler, Wis., will graduate Kohler High School having inspired her peers in science by helping establish the Science Olympiad Club and Kohler Elementary Science Camp. She led both varsity soccer and basketball as team captain and is a National History Day state champion and national qualifier. She believes it is crucial for her generation to be a leader in sustaining biodiversity for the Earth’s future. Zielke will study biomedical engineering at Case Western Reserve University, with a career goal of becoming a biomedical researcher and public health official.  

 In addition to the three HVK scholarships, the foundation awarded the equally prestigious Ruth DeYoung Kohler Scholarship to Kohler High School’s Clara Montes in the amount of $80,000. The award recognizes artistic vision, creativity, technical mastery, and dedication to a career in the arts.

 Clara Montes, daughter of Rachel and Arvin Montes of Kohler, Wis., is an accomplished violinist who has performed at the district and state level. Montes has been a member of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra Senior Symphony since 2016 and was awarded co-concertmaster and first chair for the 2018-19 season. Performing has inspired Montes as a musician, and driven her to work harder, play with conviction, and become a leader. She believes carrying the art form of classic music into the future is part of her duty as a musician. Montes will attend Boston University with a double major in music performance and microbiology. She aspires to play in a professional orchestra.

 For more information on the Herbert V. Kohler Scholarship, the Ruth DeYoung Kohler Scholarship or other Kohler Foundation programs, please contact Christine Taylor, Executive Director, at 920-458-1972.

Kohler Foundation is a non-profit, private foundation dedicated to supporting arts, education  and art preservation initiatives in Wisconsin.

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