During the August 12th, 2025 Rock Island-Milan School District Board meeting, a group of 44 scholars were recognized with the Charles O. Austin Award. The award is presented to scholars with a 3.5 GPA or above for six consecutive semesters.
The designation was established back in 1999 by the RIMSD #41 Board of Education in honor of Charles O. Austin, Jr., who served RIMSD for 14 years as Rock Island High School Principal and for 7 years as Superintendent of Schools. Austin demanded excellence, was a role model for achievement, and directly impacted the lives of thousands of our community's youth.
The following scholars were acknowledged:
Vanessa Boswell, Alexander Burgmeier, Alex Clarke, Payton Decker, Aubrey Doss ,Alliene Downing, Quinn Feigley, Camryn Fineran, Helen Franco, Millie Gidaszewski, Braden Gilliland, William Hampton, Zaynah Hassan, John Htoo, Ni Tha Htoo Blay, Mallory Hudnall, Jenna Kitterman, Owen Klapperich, Daniella Leahy, JaMarrie Lee, Gabriel Mahn, Nahimana Martin, Henry Mass, Adrian Mills, Jackson Nesseler, Jake Nixon, Claire O'Hern-Maidak, Addison Pannell, Naw K'Lu Moo Paw, Charisma Pulliam, Evan Regur, Olivia Riecke, Linda Rose, Poe Lie Htoo Say, Olivia Seidlitz, Eh Dah Soe, Eh Nay Soe, Jackson St. Amand, Brenden Strader, Gracelynn Veys, Katelyn Voss, Averi Vroman, Tyler Whitten, and Noah Witmer.
Thank you to everyone who came to celebrate the exemplary work of the scholars. We could not be more proud of these scholars as they head into their senior year!