05/27/2026
Kamo’s Kids awards $9,000 in Lake Hamilton scholarships
The Sentinel-Record17 May 2026BRADEN SARVER
Braden Sarver)
Five Kamo’s Kids Foundation college scholarship recipients stand on the Wolves’ baseball field with members of the Kamo’s Kids Foundation scholarship committee following Lake Hamilton’s victory on May 5. From left are Jerney Butler, Ashur Gregory, Connor Markish, Zada McCain and MacKenzie Ruffin. (The Sentinel-Record/
PEARCY — The Kamo’s Kids Foundation awarded nine $1,000 scholarships to Lake Hamilton students Tuesday, May 5, following the Wolves’ victory over El Dorado.
Lake Hamilton senior softball players Mikaela Miller and Lana-Mae Stevenson received their scholarships after the softball game. The remaining scholarships were presented after the baseball game to senior baseball player Ashur Gregory and seniors Madilyn Benton, Jerney Butler, Connor Markish, Zada McCain and MacKenzie Ruffin. Lucas Sutterfield received the scholarship for the outstanding career and technical education student.
Students applying for the college scholarships write essays about what the words “Kompassion,” “Kommitment” and “Kourage” mean to them. The committee also considers applicants’ extracurricular activities, volunteer work and financial need, Kamo’s Kids Foundation Executive Director Steve Qualls said.
“We have a group that goes through all of our applicants,” Qualls said. “We are not always looking for the 4.0, 32 ACT person. We are just as happy to try and find that C average kid who has that desire to go to college. That’s because the kid who has the 4.0 is probably going to get help going to school but the kid B or C student may not be able to get the extra funds to go to college.
“That’s where our program started with these scholarships. This year we have all different grade points and academic levels. That’s fine too. It really just depends on the student and their resume and their essay and the need.”
The Kamo’s Kids Foundation was founded in honor of the late Kameron Hale by his parents Kevin and Kim Hale. Kameron Hale was a football, basketball and baseball player at Lake Hamilton. The foundation started as a way to supply students with athletic equipment, school supplies and special clothing needs such as winter coats, according to the foundation website.
All of the money raised by the Kamo’s Kids Foundation goes toward the purpose, as there are no overhead or administrative expenses. Kameron Hale cared for the youth of the community and the foundation aims to keep his spirit alive through helping the youth and in efforts to carry forward his spirit of caring for his community and the special needs of others.”
Although the scholarships are not always going to the top students who apply to them, Qualls noted that sometimes the A students are those the committee deems worthy based on the essays. He added that the pool of applicants is usually impressive but this year the applicants were “fantastic.”
“The essays this year were really, really good,” Qualls said. “Every year, most all the applicants we get are very, very good. We get a lot of applicants. For the committee, it’s very hard to narrow down to however many we’re going to give on the year.”
The CTE scholarship is different from the college scholarships in who it goes to and how it is awarded. For that award, Lake Hamilton career and technical education instructors nominate and vote on students to be able to apply for the scholarship. Then all of the nominated students write essays to try and win the scholarship. A different committee then decides from those essays.
Sutterfield, this year’s CTE scholarship recipient, plans to attend Henderson State University with the goal of becoming an airline pilot. He is working to earn his pilot’s license before arriving at Henderson to get a head start and build a strong foundation for the program.
“We’re wanting to help kids go through the career path of going through secondary education,” Qualls said. “We’re also excited now to have the CTE scholarship and we’re going to expand it even further next year. We don’t know how many we’re going to do next year but we’re going to expand the CTE because we see the need for the kids who are not going to secondary education but they’re going to start their careers immediately after high school. We want to help those kids too.”
