Indian Prairie Scholars is an award that senior students can receive at all three Indian Prairie high schools, which include, Neuqua, Waubonsie, and Matea Valley, after having completed seven semesters of high school with a 3.6 grade point average, or higher. The district has been giving out IPSD scholar awards for over a dozen years, and the award was created to celebrate student’s academic success throughout their four years of high school. At Neuqua, the event will take place on March 26th in the main gymnasium, and all selected seniors are permitted to have up to two guests attend.  Typically at the event there are also a couple of student and faculty speakers, along with Dr. Fuhrer, who will also say a few words before the ceremony starts. According to Dr. Fuhrer, Neuqua Valley’s Principal,  “There are a lot of students who earn the award at Neuqua, about 300 to 500 students on average, but in this sense it’s a really good thing because we’ve got a lot of students who care about their academics.” When asked if an IPSD scholar award could be beneficial on a college application, Dr. Fuhrer believes that  “different colleges take awards like this in different lights, colleges are very unique in the way that they look at student applications, but it is something that I think a student could use as a part of their application process.” 

Regardless of how colleges view awards like this, the IPSD scholar award continues to be a source of motivation and confidence  for students to keep up their academic success, as well as  develop a strong work ethic that will benefit them even after high school graduation.