05/13/2026
Last night, Kiwanis Club of Zion Benton hosted our fourth annual achievement awards at Zion-Benton Township High School honoring students in the Career and Tech Ed Dept.
$10,400 of scholarships donated 100% by our community were handed out to students along with over $4,000 worth of swag bags. These swag bags included tools specific to the trade the students were awarded in. Cash awards ranged from $25 - $300 with the student of the year being awarded a $2,000 scholarship.
Our program started out as a way to award students going into the trades with scholarships since there are few scholarship resources available to them and quickly grew into honoring the entire career and tech ed department by year two.
The best part about this program is that our Kiwanis Club organizes it. but the program is funded through a grassroots effort of our entire community. Donations ranged from $5 - $1,500 with donations coming from large corporations, small businesses, retired and current teachers and administrators, and community members.
We are already collecting for next year's awards. Please visit our app if you would like to contribute to our 2027 awards. It is such an honor for our club to organize these awards for our community that makes these awards possible. It really does take a village
