Poplar Bluff High School senior Layton Sanders has been selected to receive the $500 Kyle Curtis Dicken Memorial Scholarship.
Layton plans to attend Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, where he will study music education, with a goal of becoming a music instructor upon completing graduate school and possibly his doctorate.
The scholarship was established with savings through the college fund of the late Kyle Dicken, who would have graduated with the Class of 2014, according to his grandmother Wanda Dicken. Layton wrote in his application essay that he had heard about Kyle’s love for music, and what a caring individual the sophomore was, and can only “hope that others may see me in the same way.”
“I feel like a school’s music program offers an opportunity to belong for students who aren’t necessarily ‘academically gifted’ or ‘athletically gifted,’” Layton stated.
When looking to make the largest impact, the Dicken family decided to establish a fund for college-bound music majors, which they say otherwise did not exist at the local level.
Contributions to the scholarship fund may be sent to the Community Foundation of the Ozarks at the following address: 425 E. Trafficway, Springfield, MO 65806. Visit www.cfozarks.org for more information.
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Cutline: Layton Sanders of PBHS, pictured with band director Stephen Winters and family representative Wanda Dicken, is the 2021 recipient of the Kyle Dicken Memorial Scholarship.