Sheldon, Iowa — A Sheldon scholar athlete has been named as Iowa’s UnityPoint Health Female Scholar Athlete of the Year.
The Iowa High School Sports Network announced that Emma Van Meeteren of Sheldon received this year’s award. According to the IHSSN, the UnityPoint Health Scholar Athlete of the Year Award honors Iowa high schools’ top male and top female seniors who demonstrate excellence in school, sports and their Iowa communities.
Van Meeteren graduated this spring from Sheldon Community High School, where she earned a 4.0 GPA and class rank of 1 out of 78 students while participating in Track, Cross Country, Basketball, Softball and Volleyball. She was also a member of the National Honor Society and participated in Concert Choir, Show Choir, Jazz Choir, Band, Marching Band, Pep Band, Student Leadership Team, Spanish Club, Talented and Gifted, Students Against Destructive Decisions and Fellowship of Christian Athletes. In addition, Van Meeteren was selected for the Northwest Iowa Bandmaster’s Association Honor Band and was Student Leadership Team Treasurer as well as National Honor Society Secretary and Fellowship of Christian Athletes President in her Senior year.
Van Meeteren also displays a commitment to her community by participating and volunteering in numerous activities such as the color run, tutoring for St. Patrick’s School and Sheldon Middle School, Then Feed Just One and Project Linus. She is also an active participant in the life of her church. She accumulated many hours in Creative Movement, is a nursery and Children and Worship volunteer, as well as a Vacation Bible School helper and singer on the praise team. She accumulated about 150 hours in church volunteer work over the years and volunteered about 20 hours to Rise on the Road mission trip to Chicago, as well as assiting with RiseFest in Sheldon.
Sheldon High School Principal, Sherrie Zeutenhorst, says Van Meeteren excels in the area of leadership and has a strong sense of values, responsibility and character. She is dependable and can be trusted to carry out a task to completion while leading others along the way. Emma is hardworking, trustworthy, intelligent and she is willing to go the extra mile to insure success, according to Zeutenhorst.
The UnityPoint Health Male Scholar Athlete of the Year Award was presented to William Mengler of Belle Plaine, Iowa.
As a part of the award, Van Meeteren and Mengler will each receive a $500 scholarship per year for up to 4 consecutive years of secondary education.
Ken Krogman, the President of the Iowa High School Sports Network says it’s a great honor to present the scholarships to Emma and William, on behalf of the Iowa High School Sports Network and UnityPoint Health, and to reward their positive leadership and citizenship in their local communities. Krogman says he is very pleased with the selection of Emma Van Meeteren and William Mengler as individuals he believes demonstrate excellence in school, sports and their Iowa communities.
