Kansas Honors Program

Fun Facts

• The very first Kansas Honors Program was held on December 2, 1971, in Hutchinson.
• In its inaugural year, the Kansas Honors Program honored about 1,000 students in 16 countywide programs. Today we honor approximately 3,500 students from 362 high schools in all 105 counties.
• Dictionaries haven’t always been given out as part of the award. The first year, each student received a $25 gift certificate to the Kansas Union Bookstore or the Oread Book Shop.
• An additional 11 counties were added to the program in its second year.
• In the first five years of KHP, 9,400 students were recognized.
• Marlesa Roney, University of Kansas vice provost for student success, was a Kansas Honor Scholar in 1976 and currently serves as one of the featured speakers for the Kansas Honors Program.
• Larry Chaney, McPherson volunteer and master of ceremonies, was a McPherson KHP recipient in 1977 and still has his dictionary to prove it!
• In February 1977, the 10,000th Kansas Honor Scholar was recognized. Sherwin Frey, then a senior at Goessel High School, was presented with a large commemorative plaque by KU Chancellor Archie Dykes. During high school he was a basketball player, a cross-country runner, an actor in school plays, a member of the choir, a participant in forensics and an artist.
• Janet Murguia, president and CEO of the National Council of La Raza (the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the U.S.), served as the executive vice chancellor for University Relations at KU, was the deputy assistant to President Clinton and was a 1978 Kansas Honor Scholar from Harmon High School in Kansas City.
• As of 1984, all 105 counties are included in the Kansas Honors Program.
• 1992 Kansas Honor Scholar Shannon Polly, Topeka West High School, was named to the 2nd team “All USA High School Academic Team” and attended Yale University.
• The Woodward Scholarship was first awarded in 1997. The first recipients were Tami Larson of Ozawkie and Christopher Milligan of Overland Park.
• Malorie Bartelson, master of ceremonies at the 1999 Wellington KHP, was a Kansas Honor Scholar.
• In February 2007, the Alumni Association recognized the 100,000th Kansas Honor Scholar, Audrey Allison, then a senior at Larned High School. She also visited the Statehouse in Topeka during the annual KU in the Capitol event. During high school she was a volleyball player and cheerleader, and a member of drama club, 4-H, student council and the National Honor Society. Audrey now attends the University of Kansas and works as an intern for the Kansas Honors Program at the KU Alumni Association.
• More than 120 volunteers throughout the state help make the Kansas Honors Program successful.