Editor: Shannon Cottongame
April 27, 2022
In September 2021, the Fort Graham Chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) invited all Hill County high schools to select a DAR Good Citizen from their senior class. “We were thrilled and honored that six of the eleven high schools participated,” said DAR Regent Elect Susan Lovell Cook.
The panel of judges selected Abbott High School senior Kaitlyn Nors as the Fort Graham DAR Good Citizen for 2021-2022. The Fort Graham chapter will honor her with a $500 scholarship for her future education.
Since 1934, the DAR Good Citizens program has recognized high school seniors across the nation. Each high school that participates selects a senior on the basis of having outstanding qualities of dependability, service, leadership and patriotism. This student then has the option of submitting a personal portfolio and essay to compete in a scholarship contest. The essay topic changes each year.
This year’s essay was titled “Our American Heritage and Our Responsibility for Preserving It” and the focus question was “How do the qualities of a good citizen (dependability, service, leadership and patriotism) help support our nation?”
The students who participated had their portfolios and essays judged by a panel of four non-DAR judges. Their portfolio is 70% of the judging and the essay is 30%. The judges were given clear guidelines and the resulting scoring was close—all within four points.
The student selected as the Fort Graham DAR Good Citizen has their submission forwarded for state judging and can advance to national judging with an opportunity to receive a $5,000 scholarship.
The following six students were nominated from their local high schools:
Abbott High School, Kaitlyn Nors, daughter of Kevin and Karleen Nors. She intends to major in kinesiology with an emphasis in exercise and sport science at Texas A&M University with the ultimate goal of becoming a certified strength and conditioning coach for a collegiate basketball or track team.
Aquilla High School, Caitlyn Morgan, daughter of Laurie Morgan. Caitlyn intends to study child psychology and ultimately help children who struggle with a wide range of mental health issues.
Hillsboro High School, Larissa Boyd, daughter of Jim and Angela Boyd. She has great aspirations to have a career in the Texas country music industry and will continue to contribute time and effort to that goal but realizes that college is also important. She will attend Texas A&M University, where she will major in biomedical sciences and work toward becoming a psychiatrist.
Hubbard High School, Faith Fuller, daughter of Thomas and Mindy Fuller. Faith sees herself contributing to an increased positive representation of women, people of color and other cultures in film. She is searching for the right four-year college with a great film school to train for a career in the film industry.
Whitney High School, Macy McKinney, daughter of April McKinney and the late Michael McKinney. Macy desires to obtain her Bachelor’s degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders from Baylor University prior to obtaining her Master’s degree to become a certified speech-language pathologist and work with children who have speech impediments.
Mount Calm High School, Grayson Kraayvanger, was also a nominee.
All DAR Good Citizens will be honored with a certificate, a lapel pin and a wallet card identifying them as a DAR Good Citizen. “This is an honor that most winners have taken pride in claiming their entire lives,” Cook said. “We hope these DAR Good Citizens are no exception.”
The Lakelander 