Two recent high school graduates, Thaddeus Donley and Noah Goss, have been selected as this year’s recipients of the John R. Cyr Rural Voices Award in the 2023-2024 Rural Voices Youth Contest. The award is named in honor of John R. Cyr, who served as the Executive Director for the North Central Regional Planning Commission for 22 years. Thaddeus Donley graduated from Donley Ranch Schoolhouse in rural Ellsworth County. Noah Goss is a graduate of Ellsworth High School. Both students submitted winning entries in this year’s contest.
The NCRPC has sponsored the contest since 2006 and has awarded over $30,000 to graduates from the region. High school seniors from the 12-county NCRPC service area were asked to share their perspectives on the contest theme, “Rural Kansas…Success Through Innovation,” by submitting either an essay or video reflecting this theme.
Thad Donley
Noah Goss
“We were pleased to honor this year’s recipients of the John R. Cyr Rural Voices Award,” said NCRPC Executive Director John Shea. “It is inspiring to hear what participants say about the region and rural Kansas each year – and this year was no exception.”
Donley plans to attend Kansas State University, majoring in Animal Science and Industry. Additionally, he will continue to work towards obtaining a private pilot’s license. His entry discussed his real estate investing and lawn mowing businesses.
“The theme was important to me because it made me realize my own story of success through innovation in rural Kansas,” Donley said.
Goss will attend Lake Land College in Mattoon, Illinois, to pursue an associate degree in Agriculture while being a livestock judging team member.
“Living in rural Kansas has played a significant role in shaping me into the person I am today, and I would not trade living in a small community for anything,” Goss said. “By seeing innovation within my community and other communities in North Central Kansas, it is inspiring to see the effort put into preserving small towns and their ways of life.”
Details for the next Rural Voices Youth Contest will be announced in the Fall and entries will be due February 1, 2025.
View this year’s winning entries.
This article appeared in the Quarter 2 2024 NCRPC Newsletter.
