Mount Vernon schools highlight coach milestone, scholarships and new grants

The Mount Vernon Community School Corporation opened Tuesday’s meeting with a series of recognitions and grant announcements that school leaders said support student opportunities and district operations.

Student intern Lily Quinn read a list of recent honors, including the announcement that Julie Shelton reached her 400th career win as Mount Vernon girls basketball coach. The board presented Shelton with a Ripple Award; Shelton said staying at one community made the milestone especially meaningful: "This is just an amazing honor for me."

Leaders also recognized Tate Kogel and Brady Weber as local finalists for the Lilly Endowment scholarship program. A representative from the Hancock County Community Foundation explained the local nomination process and that the Lilly Endowment ultimately approves the final recipients.

On funding, the district reported several recent awards: a $25,000 Indiana Department of Education robotics competition grant supporting teams at three schools, with 9 Star serving as the required community partner and donating $6,250; and a separate $25,000 rebate from 9 Star for energy-efficiency efforts that the superintendent said will help utility and operations costs. Superintendent Dr. Parker noted these funds will assist programming and operating costs but did not present a detailed budget allocation during the meeting.

The announcements were presented as informational reports; no formal board votes were required for the recognitions or the grant summaries.