Holt senior Ethan Dunsworth has been selected by the WSD Board of Education as the District nominee for the John T. Belcher Scholarship. The Missouri School Board Association (MSBA) and Future Builders established the statewide scholarship program in the memory of Mr. Belcher who was instrumental in developing innovative financing programs for Missouri school districts. "The learning environment for thousands of Missouri’s public school students was improved as a result of his work," says the scholarship description. "Though Mr. Belcher lost his battle with cancer in 1989, his courage was an inspiration to all who knew him."

As the District nominee, Dunsworth now has the opportunity to apply for a $1,000 scholarship, which is awarded to a student in each of MSBA’s 17 regions. Following the selection of regional winners, a statewide winner is chosen and will receive an additional $1,500 scholarship. Applicants are judged on the basis of academic performance, extracurricular activities and the quality of an essay.

Dunsworth has a GPA of 4.56, and is ranked first academically in his class, and scored 1540 on the SAT. He won first at the High School Honors Division of Missouri’s Tri-County Regional Science and Engineering Fair in February, and was awarded the Air Force Research Award and Navy Research Award for his project. Dunsworth has also been a part of Scholar Bowl, National Honor Society (NHS), and Future Business Leaders of America, and is the control lead and a programmer for the WSD Ratchet Rockers robotics team. He was also selected to attend Missouri Boys State. In college, Dunsworth plans to study physics, specifically plasma, nuclear physics, and energy engineering.