Citizen Potawatomi Nation members have had many accomplishments and earned distinctions in academic, athletic and artistic fields over the past few months. Here are just a few of their success stories.
U.S. Olympian and Lindenwood University student Mary Killman won the Solo U.S. National Championship title for Synchronized Swimming on April 13. Killman, of McKinney, Texas scored a total of 173.725 on her way to her second national title.
In March, Citizen Potawatomi Nation member J.Davis Hobdy and fellow faculty member of the County Dance Conservatory, Allison Bobby, appeared as Special Guests of the ArtTalentFest2013 at the National Military House in Kiev, Ukraine. Hobdy is a member from the Kahdot family.
Tribal Member Spencer Rutherford of Grove, Okla. was named an All American after helping Labette Community College win its second consecutive NJCAA National Wrestling Championship on February 23.
Donna Barnard, a CPN member teaching at Westmoore High School in Oklahoma City, received two prestigious education awards in recent months. In September 2012 she was named the Secondary Art Educator of the Year Award by the Oklahoma Art Education Association. In March, she was named the Western Region Secondary Education Art Teacher of the Year.
Heath, Texas resident Evan Higbee has been invited to play in the 76th annual Oil Bowl, a high school football game between Texas and Oklahoma athletes. Higbee, of Rockwall-Heath High School, has signed a letter of intent to play football at Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Weatherford, Okla.
Kathy Lee Anderson of Guthrie Okla. was named Guthrie High School’s Valedictorian for the class of 2013. She will attend Oklahoma State University in the fall.
Cody Eastman, a member of the Burnette family, was the Kansas 5A State Champion at the 145-pound division. His win helped Arkansas City High School take its second consecutive state title and ensured that Eastman went undefeated against Kansas competition in 2012-13.