Two CWC graduates win prestigious scholarships

Two Central Wyoming College students graduating this spring have been selected as recipients of the prestigious Jack Kent Cooke Foundation’s Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship.

Kelli Niemeyer of Riverton and Matthew Seats of Williamsburg, VA are two of 60 community college graduates nationwide to receive the award. The foundation provides $30,000 per year for up to three years to the recipients to complete their baccalaureate program.

The two were selected by a panel of university faculty and admissions professionals who used criteria including academic achievement and critical thinking ability, financial need, will to succeed and breadth of interest and activities.

Niemeyer, one of five valedictorians of the CWC 2012 graduating class, is planning to transfer to the University of Wyoming where she will continue her studies before applying to the University of Washington Medical School.

Seats was a high school dropout who enrolled at CWC in his late 40s. He is graduating this spring with high honors, earning an associate’s degree in Outdoor Education. At Central, he was awarded a Quality Leader Scholarship. He is planning to enroll at Prescott (Arizona) College to pursue a bachelor’s degree in adventure education.

Both of the CWC students participated in multiple community service activities. Niemeyer worked as a camp counselor, leading music and teaching at Camp Bethel along with teaching Sunday School and giving riding lessons to underprivileged children. At Central, she was a member of the undergraduate research group studying the prevalence of West Nile Virus in Fremont County. She participated in the CWC jazz choir, theater productions and was the recipient of multiple scholarships.

Seats was a fundraiser and solicitor for child development resources, the coordinator for the Appalachian Trail Days Festival and is the founder of Hampton Roads Outdoor Adventure and Prescott Outdoor Adventures. He is also the founder and CEO of the Children’s Education Foundation.

Seats and Niemeyer are the only Wyoming community college students to receive the scholarship from the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation.