{"id":205190,"date":"2026-04-23T22:33:19","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T03:33:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=205190"},"modified":"2026-04-24T01:23:03","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T06:23:03","slug":"girl-finalists-named-for-r-k-thompson-self-reliance-award","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2026\/04\/23\/girl-finalists-named-for-r-k-thompson-self-reliance-award\/","title":{"rendered":"R.K. Thompson Self-Reliance Award girl finalists named"},"content":{"rendered":"
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VW independent\/submitted information<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Five area girls have been selected for the 2026 R.K. Thompson Self Reliance Award, according to Anthony Adams and Keri McClure, co-chairs of the Van Wert Service Club\u2019s selection committee. In its 56th year, the program provides cash awards to seniors of Van Wert County high schools who best exhibit the trait of self-reliance. These awards are designed to seek out and honor the student who does the best with what she has.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year\u2019s girl finalists include Zaria Harter; Caroline Marks, daughter of Ashley Marks; Elyssa Renner, daughter of Dennis and Maria Renner; Paige Smith, daughter of Victoria Setili, and Grace Spieles, daughter of Mark and Molly Spieles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Harter is a senior at Vantage Career Center, where she participates in the Criminal Justice Program while serving as a student ambassador and president of the German Interact Club and Criminal Justice Leaders. Zaria is also a member of National Technical Honor Society and a state qualifier in the Skills USA Competition. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Lincolnview High School, she is a member of the Lancer Marching Band, Pep Band, track and field team and National Honor Society. Outside of school, Zaria is an active member of the Ohio City Church of God Youth Group. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following graduation, Zaria plans to enlist in the Marine Corps. Work experience includes time at Ohio City Express and Work-Based Learning with Vantage School Resource Officer Jill Gemmer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marks is a senior at Crestview High School, where she serves as Student Body president, treasurer of FCCLA and secretary of the National Honor Society chapter. Caroline also competes on the Crestview Knight football and basketball cheer squads and the Knight Vision show choir. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Outside of school, Caroline is an active member of St. Paul\u2019s Evangelical Church. Following graduation, she plans on attending The Ohio State University pursuing a degree in marketing. Work experience includes childcare, R Place Stone Grill and Sycamore Ice Cream.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Renner is a senior at Lincolnview High School, where she serves as president of Lincolnview FFA. She is also a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Service Club and Honor Society, while competing on the Lancer cross country and track and field teams, earning Northwest Conference scholar-athlete and Academic All-Ohio honors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Outside of school, Elyssa serves as president of the Van Wert County Junior Fair Board and was selected as Van Wert County Junior Fair queen. Elyssa also serves as an altar server at St. Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church in Van Wert. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following graduation, she plans to attend Wright State Lake Campus pursuing a degree in agricultural business. Work experience includes time with Ag Credit through the CEO Program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Smith is a senior at Vantage Career Center, where she excels in the welding pogram. Paige is an active member of the Lincolnview 4-H program, where she enjoys working with both horses and sheep while also engaging in various volunteer activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Outside of school, Paige is an active member of the LifeHouse Church Youth Group. Following graduation, she intends to either pursue a degree in equine therapy at the University of Findlay or advanced welding training. Work experience includes extensive welding opportunities at Remlinger Manufacturing.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spieles is a senior at Van Wert High School, where she serves as Senior Class president, Concert Choir president, FCCLA vice president and field marshal for the Cougar Pride Marching Band. Grace was a member of the football cheerleading squad, in addition to extensive participation in Van Wert High School Drama Club, earning many lead roles in the various theater productions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Outside of school, Grace is an active member of First United Methodist Church, a competition team dancer with The Dancer by Gina Studio, while also participating in productions at Van Wert Civic Theatre. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following graduation, Grace will attend Ohio Northern pursuing a degree in entertainment design and production, with the goal of returning to Van Wert to seek employment with Van Wert Live, where she earned valuable experience through the CEO program.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

VW independent\/submitted information Five area girls have been selected for the 2026 R.K. Thompson Self Reliance Award, according to Anthony Adams and Keri McClure, co-chairs of the Van Wert Service Club\u2019s selection committee. In its 56th year, the program provides cash awards to seniors of Van Wert County high schools who best exhibit the trait […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-205190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-topstory"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-01 08:56:07","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205190","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=205190"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205190\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":205205,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205190\/revisions\/205205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=205190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=205190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=205190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}