Jonas Kern, a senior at Ellinwood High School, received the Dale M. Dennis Excellence in Education Award, sponsored by United School Administrators of Kansas.

Alysia Eliason, EHS principal, announced that Jonas has demonstrated the characteristics necessary to receive this annual award given in honor of a distinguished Kansas educational leader. Recipients of this award are identified from their schools and across the state as individuals who have displayed the citizenship, community and school service, scholarship, and strong self-awareness that make them a quality individual. The Dale M. Dennis Excellence in Education Award was established in 1996 by Kansas school administrators to honor the long and valuable service Dale M. Dennis, Deputy Commissioner of the Kansas State Department of Education, provided to the students and educators of Kansas. The individual attributes which characterize Dale M. Dennis as a friend of education, and more importantly as a first-class citizen, are the basis for the recipient of this award.