News Release: JAG-K Scholarship Memorializing Former Sen. Bud Estes Presented to Holcomb High School Student

Emma Redden, a senior at Holcomb High School, was announced Wednesday as recipient of the fourth annual Jobs for America’s Graduates-Kansas (JAG-K) Bud Estes Memorial Scholarship honoring the memory of the late Kansas state senator from Dodge City.

Redden will receive $1,000 to apply toward college expenses. The award was announced before more than 250 JAG-K students and staff gathered at the Wichita State University Eugene M. Hughes Metropolitan Complex for the annual JAG-K Career Development Conference.

A member of the JAG-K Board of Directors and one of the program’s most avid supporters, Estes passed away in February of 2021 following a long illness. Estes served in the Kansas Legislature from 2012 until his passing.

“We are pleased to honor the memory of Senator Estes with this annual scholarship,” said Chuck Knapp, JAG-K President and CEO. “There was not a stronger champion for JAG-K than Bud Estes. He was dedicated to ensuring a great future for Kansas, and his work with our organization showed how passionate and selfless he was.”

Kansas’ 114 JAG-K programs, which serve approximately 6,000 students in 48 school districts across the state, reported a graduation rate of 97 percent in the last reporting period. Many of JAG-K’s students attend college, overcoming barriers that might otherwise have kept them from succeeding in school.

The Bud Estes scholarship is awarded to a student who expresses an interest in public service. A participant in the Holcomb High School JAG-K program for two years, Redden plans to attend Friends University, where whe will be on the cheer squad. She plans to study radiologic technology.

“I’m very honored to get this scholarship,” Redden said. “Family means the most to me. So to receive a memorial scholarship for someone who was truly dear to their family is really significant.

“My greatest role model is my mom. Everything I do is to make her proud. So getting this scholarship to help my parents out with college means a lot. I want to do all I can to make my community proud and make my school proud, and to represent JAG-K well.”

“Emma has been a valuable member of JAG-K with a positive work ethic and attitude,” said Holcomb High School JAG-K Career Specialist Melinda Gersberger. “Her willingness to support her peers and adapt to change and embrace new challenges shows her leadership potential. She has a bright future ahead of her.”

JAG-K is a multi-year, in-school program for students in grades 6-12 that offers tools to successfully transition students into post-secondary school, the military, or directly into the workforce with marketable skills. Participants in the program face multiple barriers to success that their JAG-K Career Specialist helps them overcome through a nationally-accredited, evidence-based model.

The 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization is a state affiliate of the national JAG program network which operates in 36 different states and territories. It is primarily funded through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families block grant to the State of Kansas administered by the Kansas Department for Children and Families (DCF). In addition to school districts and DCF, JAG-K partners with the Kansas Department of Education. Other JAG-K funding sources include ADM, AT&T, Barton Community College, EagleU, Goldstein Charitable Trust, Independence Community College, the JB and Anne Hodgdon Foundation, Honeywell, John Deere, Johnson County Community College, the Kansas Chamber of Commerce, Kansas Gas Service, the Kansas Insurance Department, Magellan Financial, Mark One Electric, the Office of the Kansas State Bank Commissioner, United Way of Kaw Valley, United Way of the Plains, U.S. Bank, Walmart and Washburn Tech.

To learn more about JAG-K, visit  www.jagkansas.org, or ‘Jobs for America’s Graduates-Kansas’ on Facebook, X and LinkedIn.

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