This week, West Elk Senior Kylee Jackson signed a letter of intent for a vocal scholarship with Cowley College located in Arkansas City, KS. She was the chosen recipient after  a live audition where she sang The Water is Wide arranged by Mark Hayes. This is the first non-athletic scholarship to be awarded at West Elk this year.

Kylee is a Patriots cheerleader under the direction of Head Coach Jennifer McDow. She is a member of FCCLA under the guidance of Mrs. Kandace Metcalf. Kylee has received the Kansas Child Care Training Opportunity's Foundations for Safe and Healthy Early Care Facilities Module Certificate and the Infant and Child CPR and First Aid Certificate through Family and Consumer Sciences (FACS) class, which is also taught by Metcalf. Kylee is a teacher's aid in Mrs. Terri Jennings's kindergarten class. The Career and Technical Education pathway she chose to follow and the experience gained through assisting in classroom instruction at West Elk will help to further her chosen major of Childhood Education. 

Mr. Weber, West Elk's High School Principal, declared "Kylee worked extremely hard this year for all of her accomplishments. She had to do a live audition without music. That takes a lot of guts. We are genuinely proud of her and wish her the best in all her endeavors. "Kylee has had plenty of musical accomplishments while at West Elk. In 9th grade, during the production of The Sound of Music, she played the lead of Maria. She has been a part of the Honor Choir for 4 years as well. Kylee pushed for recognition of Mr. Alan McKenzie, West Elk's music teacher, for "he has been a fantastic teacher. He really helped me to gain confidence enough to even believe in myself to try for such a scholarship".