Nylin Bowers is a 2022 Character Scholarship recipient. Nylin was nominated by Abby Jones and endorsed by Barb Gentrup. Additional information coming soon!
Abby Jones wrote this about Nylin:
Nylin Bowers is an outstanding candidate for the McKenna’s Rae of Hope Foundation Character Scholarship. He has a unique gift for understanding people and technology. He has combined these skills to help make new initiatives in our school succeed. Nylin will attend CCC in Kearney where he will major in Mechatronics. He plans on staying in Kearney for his career. I can’t wait to see how he continues to benefit our community in the future. Our Crisis Team and SPED department have collaborated to create Buff’s Cupboard, a free pantry/closet for those in need in our school system. Nylin saw this as an opportunity to use his skills to help promote the pantry and make this initiative succeed. First, Nylin collaborated with other students in Spanish 3 and 4 and they created numerous bilingual public service announcements to promote and explain how people could support and use the pantry. Our SPED department has a laser cutter. Nylin has made it his mission to collaborate with our technology administrator to master how to use the laser cutter. He is completely proficient with its software and knows how to troubleshoot the machine. He has used his skills to work with special education students and coach them on how to use the machine. In addition, Nylin spent hours cutting out Scrabble tiles for a SPED holiday project. He also cut out Christmas ornaments that Buff’s Cupboard used as thank you gifts. Finally, Nylin has helped build and stock shelves for the pantry and written thank you letters to donors to the pantry.
Toward the end of first semester, our school hosted a maker space. Nylin learned about the CNC machine and worked with numerous other students, promoting the Maker Space, and answering questions. Because of his leadership he has been able to work closely with our Tech Integration Specialist to help develop our elementary Maker Space. He has also spent time working with elementary students in the different areas. All these extra projects tie closely with his career goals and are a testament to Nylin’s strong work ethic and willingness to help others. Nylin’s Pathways to Success class has collaborated with the Transitions class in the SPED department. Nylin has worked closely with Transitions students on life skill activities such as playing games, working on homework, cooking, and holiday activities like pumpkin painting. In addition, every month the Pathways and Transitions students schedule an activity to work with pre-school students. Nylin can interact with, encourage and engage everyone he works with. In my nearly two decades as an educator, I have rarely seen anyone connect with and help others as Nylin has. It has been absolutely wonderful working with him as he discovered his career passion and figured out his post-secondary plans. Mr. Nylin Bowers is an outstanding candidate for the McKenna’s Rae of Hope Foundation Character Scholarship. An investment in his future is a guaranteed investment in not only him but in the future of our community as well.
Barb, his endorser, had this to say:
I am writing this reference at the request of Nylin Bowers who is applying for the McKenna's Rae of Hope Foundation Character Scholarship. I have gotten to know Nylin this year in my capacity as Special Education Coordinator/Teacher. Nylin has been a mentor to the students in my program, he took the initiative to learn how to use the laser cutter as well as teach other students how to use this tool, he created products for the Special Education Students to use in their learning and school-based business. Nylin has developed relationships with the students and is considered a friend to many. Nylin is helpful, motivational, and a role model for students with special needs. Nylin can be depended on to help students with academic skills as well as social skills. I am confident he will experience success as he continues his studies at Central Community College. In conclusion, I highly recommend Nylin Bowers. I believe his leadership, academic skills, social skills, and his willingness to mentor make him the ideal candidate for your scholarship.