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JFK Lancer - Mary Ferrell 1998 Award Recipients

Congratulations to Mark Taylor of Olathe South High School for being selected as the Second Annual JFK Lancer-Mary Ferrell Teacher Scholarship Winner! Mark will be presented his $600 award at the "November In Dallas" Conference Banquet on Saturday, November 21, 1998 at the Grand Hotel in Dallas, TX.

11-09-98

JFK TEACHER SCHOLARSHIP AWARDED

35 Years Later, The Assassination Still Studied

November 9, 1998--Dallas, Texas
This year marks the thirty-fifth anniversary of the assassination of forever young president John F. Kennedy. Recognizing the need for ethical leadership now and in the 21st Century, JFK Lancer, a Texas historical research firm, selected Olathe resident, Mark Taylor, as the 1998 "Teacher of the Year" scholarship winner. Taylor, a teacher at the Olathe South High School, was selected for his standard of excellence in research and his contribution to the understanding of the murder of President Kennedy.

Taylor was fifteen years old when President Kennedy was killed but it was twenty-five years before it had a major impact on his life. He states, "In 1988, I discovered the Warren Commission's evidence presented appeared to not substantiate their conclusions and that the intelligence agencies had not given the Commission all the information needed to prove Lee Harvey Oswald guilty--or that he acted alone."

This realization stimulated a passion to find out the truth which has generated not only a greater understanding of John Kennedy's death, but to teach that understanding to other people, young as well as old.

Taylor's accomplishments include establishing a study of JFK's death in the curriculum of his high school American History class, he has written and taught four classes on the college level -- Mid-America Nazarene University since 1992 and Friends University in 1994 -- and also conducts the "JFK Tours," a field trip to Dallas assassination related locations designed for high school students from the Kansas City area in 1994-1998.

Thomas A. Jones, of JFK Lancer, remarked, "While most students memorize mostly details and dates, this is one educator who sees the historical "big picture" and has contributed impressive work on a mostly misunderstood time in our country's history."

Taylor will be awarded his cash scholarship at the JFK Lancer Conference in Dallas, Texas, on November 21st.

READ HIS ACCEPTANCE SPEECH HERE.

Congratulations to Marco Panella, a recent graduate of Brattleboro High School, Brattleboro, Vermont. Marco is the selection for the 'Student of the Year" Scholarship winner. Panella was selected under the criteria including his GPA and Honors, leadership activities, and his study of the JFK assassination with in the historial context.

In his submitted essay, "What the JFK Presidency Means To Me," he wrote: "The presidency of John F. Kennedy is the best tool for examining the exercise and structure of power in recent history. From the way Kennedy could manipulate reporters with his personality, to, more importantly, the way the media ultimately manipulated the public perception of his death..."

This intriguing first sentence was one of the things that caught the attention of the Scholarship Advisors.

Panella completed advanced courses while in high school and was very active in the school. Jazz Band and golf team. His school counselor, William R. John, wrote in his nomination letter: "Marco is one of the most intellectually talented young men I have known at Brattleboro High School.during his four years, he has been anexceptional student and a committed political leader within and without the school community. He has worked on political campaigns, doing office work, canvassing and leaflet drops. As a member of a high school local and statewide consciousness raising activities around the issues of child labor and popular commercial products."

In the past three years, Panella's name appeared on the Honor Roll of Brattleboro High School twelve times out of the past twelve marking periods, seven times the recipient of High Honors. He will be attending Brown University.