Big Walnut High School senior Kylie Stickrath recently joined a rare club.
Stickrath became one of Zonta Club of Columbus’ Outstanding Young Women.
The Zonta Club of Columbus is a chapter of Zonta International, a service organization of executives in business working together to advance the status of women worldwide.
School districts in Franklin County and the seven central Ohio contiguous counties nominate individuals for Outstanding Young Women Awards; and only 12 central Ohio nominees are selected to receive a Zonta Award In Recognition of Outstanding Young Women.
Big Walnut High School guidance counselor Jeanne Collett said the high school goes through a rigorous process before even nominating a student.
“The guidance office pulls up records looking for young women with the highest GPA and ACT scores, then we poll staff to see who’s most qualified,” Collett said. “We all agreed that Kylie is super-outgoing and easy to talk with. We got very positive comments from our staff.”
The 12 successful nominees attend a reception, where each is given the opportunity to speak about herself, her interests and experiences. Stickrath said being recognized and attending the reception was an honor.
“It was great at the recognition banquet to be around other young women and hear them describe the things they are involved in and the things they want to accomplish with their lives,” Stickrath said. “I’m really grateful for the award and for the experience.”
While at the recognition banquet, Stickrath spoke about the high school’s career shadowing day when she traveled to the Ohio Reformatory For Women in Marysville, where she spent the day with warden Ronette Burkes.
“That was an amazing experience,” Stickrath said. “That day inspired me to want to go into corrections for a career.”
Big Walnut High guidance counselor Tammi Jordan said she is not surprised that Stickrath was selected.
“To tell you what kind of a young lady she is, I got a call from a parent asking for a math and science tutor, and Kylie was the first person I thought of,” Jordan said. “The woman later said she spoke to Kylie and discovered she’s the sweetest girl ever. Kylie is definitely one of the best and brightest students we have.”
