{"id":86695,"date":"2017-04-20T08:04:49","date_gmt":"2017-04-20T13:04:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=86695"},"modified":"2017-04-20T23:36:35","modified_gmt":"2017-04-21T04:36:35","slug":"tarlton-stegaman-r-k-thompson-award-top-winners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2017\/04\/20\/tarlton-stegaman-r-k-thompson-award-top-winners\/","title":{"rendered":"Tarlton, Stegaman Self-Reliance winners"},"content":{"rendered":"

DAVE MOSIER\/<\/strong>independent editor<\/em><\/p>\n

There\u2019s an old saying that people who want to know their true worth should hear it from the mouths of others.<\/p>\n

\"2017
2017 R.K. Thompson Self-Reliance Award finalists include (bottom row, from the left) Ethan Culp, Marcus Tarlton, Jacob Durden, Joel Germann, and Brayden Farmer; (top row) Bailey Stegaman, Cora Millay, Brooke Ripley, Madison Buecker, and Maggie Cripe.<\/strong> photos by Dave Mosier\/Van Wert independent<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The 10 boy and girl finalists for the R.K. Thompson Self-Reliance Award had the opportunity Wednesday to learn what teachers, employers, and others thought of them, and it was inspiring to hear.<\/p>\n

In the end, Vantage Career Center welding program classmates Marcus Tarlton and Bailey Stegaman were selected as first-place winners of the award. However, all 10 finalists were winners in the area of self-reliance: doing the best with what one has been given.<\/p>\n

This year was the 47th edition of the annual awards program, first started by Roger K. Thompson Jr. in recognition of his father, R.K. Thompson Sr., who spent much of his time helping young people. The program is administered by the Van Wert Service Club and culminates in Wednesday\u2019s event.<\/p>\n

The banquet is an invitation-only event, with those attending, other than finalists and their families, community business and organizational leaders.<\/p>\n

Dave Thompson, son of Roger Thompson Jr., announced the first-place winners, while Roger Thompson\u2019s wife, Eunice, presented each an additional check for $500. Each finalist initially receives a plaque and a $500 check.<\/p>\n

\"R.K.
R.K. Thompson speaker Sarah Evans Tackett provides tips for a successful life.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Tarlton, the son of Erica Comment, said of the trait of self-reliance: \u201cTo me, being self-reliant means taking care of yourself no matter what, and never giving up because it\u2019s too hard or you\u2019re alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tarlton, who currently works for Woodland Cemetery and also does jobs for a local couple, said he plans to move to Michigan to seek work as a welder after graduation.<\/p>\n

Tarlton noted that he had basically \u201ctried to survive, not thrive\u201d most of his life, but that changed when he began attending Vantage. \u201cVantage was my golden ticket to a good life, so I did my best\u2026 .\u201d<\/p>\n

One of his references also talked about his ability to be responsible and to persevere.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe does not give up on his goals and makes sure that he achieves every goal he has,\u201d the person said. \u201cI see him as one of the most responsible people I have met.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like Tarlton, Stegaman, the daughter of Rich Strunkenburg and Stacie Stegaman, has had to struggle to survive, working jobs after school at Fricker\u2019s and The Tavern in Convoy to help her family get by.<\/p>\n

\u201cI make choices every day on what will help as much as possible,\u201d Stegaman said of how she helps her family.<\/p>\n

Stegaman, a Student Ambassador who plans to attend college in Jacksonville, Florida, to earn both pipe and underwater welding certifications after graduation from Vantage, said her welding skills will help her financially down the road.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe skills I\u2019ve learned mean I won\u2019t have to keep struggling my entire life,\u201d she wrote in her application. \u201cI want my future family to have an easier life than what I had.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe is one of the rare types of kids that is determined to succeed, and when she puts her mind to do something, she gives it her all,\u201d said a reference.<\/p>\n

The other boy finalists this year included Brayden Farmer, son of Scott and Samantha Farmer; Joel Germann, son of Doug and Marcia Germann; Jacob Durden, who didn\u2019t list family; and Ethan Culp, son of Randy and Dawn Culp.<\/p>\n

Girl finalists also included Madison Buecker, daughter of Mark Buecker and Kristy Grindell; Maggie Cripe, daughter of Doug and Sarah Cripe; Cora Millay, daughter of Jeff and Cynthia Millay; and Brooke Ripley, daughter of Van and Kelly Ripley.<\/p>\n

Guest speaker Sarah Evans Tackett, a former Miss Ohio and Miss America talent winner who has spent the past 30 years in college admissions, marketing, and healthcare management, gave the finalists five tips\u00a0for a successful life.<\/p>\n

    \n
  • Live by the Golden Rule: treat others how you want to be treated.<\/li>\n
  • Be true to yourself.<\/li>\n
  • Never stop dreaming big dreams.<\/li>\n
  • Do the right thing.<\/li>\n
  • Care for yourself, in order to care for others.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Tackett, who also sings in a Christian contemporary group with her husband, Jeff, noted that a person\u2019s greatest testimony is the life they live, while also leaving the finalists with advice she was given by her father: \u201cNo matter what happens, the sun\u2019s going to come up.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    DAVE MOSIER\/independent editor There\u2019s an old saying that people who want to know their true worth should hear it from the mouths of others. The 10 boy and girl finalists for the R.K. Thompson Self-Reliance Award had the opportunity Wednesday to learn what teachers, employers, and others thought of them, and it was inspiring to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-86695","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-25 07:59:03","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\/86695","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=86695"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86695\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86695"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86695"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86695"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}