Five students including recent graduates were honored at a recent Chapter T/P.E.O. reception
held at member Cathy Smith’s home in Brush.
Special guests included the P.E.O. Colorado State Scholarship Committee Chair Sara Canfield from Fort Morgan and District 4 Membership Committee Representative Ruth Ann Roberts of Windsor. The chapter honored four recent scholarship recipients including two 2024 Brush High School graduates, and a 2024 Colorado School of Mines graduate who was a former P.E.O. scholarship recipient.
Michaela Thiel, one of the honorees, is a recent Brush High School graduate and the chapter’s
recipient of their 2024 Local Scholarship annually given to one top graduating female. Thiel plans to attend State University of New York (SUNY) Maritime College in the Bronx in New York
City. With a major in International Transportation and Trade, she was also recruited for and
signed to play on the university’s volleyball team. While attending BHS, Thiel was an
academic and volleyball standout, serving as a team captain for four years. She also participated
in club volleyball, serving as captain for three years.
As a four-year FFA member, she was most recently the BHS chapter secretary and earned
Greenhand, Chapter, and State FFA degrees. Student council, Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society,
and Sources of Strength rounded out her high school activities. She was in 4-H for seven years,
receiving multiple local fair championships qualifying her for state competition in projects
including shooting sports, and received a county Pacesetter twice. She also performed and
competed in district talent shows, while involved in piano and violin for twelve years. Thiel
works at the Bank of Colorado of Fort Morgan, where she has interned for over a year.
Kalyn Brill, another honoree at the reception, is granddaughter of Chapter T member Cathy Smith and is from Thornton. She graduated this spring from Colorado School of Mines in the field of applied mathematics. A previous Chapter T STAR Scholarship nominee and recipient of a P.E.O. CO State Scholarship Fund (CSSF), she completed studies while enrolled in the Mines’
Air Force ROTC program. She begins training this month to become an intelligence officer, with
intensive training at Goodfellow Air Force Base in San Angelo, Tex.
Kayla Garcia is a 2024 BHS graduate pursuing a nursing degree from Morgan Community
College and is one of four Brush area recipients of the 2024 P.E.O. CSSF awards. Already
involved in pre-nursing courses while a student at BHS, Garcia plans to use her scholarship to
continue her nursing program, aspiring to become an obstetric, labor, and delivery nurse. She
competed on the Brush High School volleyball team for four years and in tennis her sophom*ore
and senior years. She is employed at High Plains Culinary at The Block in Fort Morgan.
Three recipients of the CSSF are 2023 Brush High School graduates: Addison Alexander,
Delaney Draegert, and Olivia Jilek.
Draegert was honored this month to serve as the student speaker at the Colorado State P.E.O.
Convention in Loveland, representing the Colorado State Scholarship Fund at the request of the
scholarship committee. As an agricultural media and communications major at West Texas A & M University in Canyon, Tex., Draegert is a collegiate member of the Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow organization. She is currently interning locally at the CHS offices and will use her scholarship to continue at West Texas A&M in August.
Olivia Jilek is a nursing student also attending West Texas A&M and plans to use her CSSF award to continue there this fall. She is the daughter and granddaughter of Chapter T members Kate Jilek and Sarah Proctor. Jilek was listed both freshman semesters on the President’s List for students achieving a 4.0 GPA. She is a member of Sigma Phi Lambda, a non-Panhellenic sorority, and works for campus admissions, including remotely this summer. When home in Colorado on breaks including this summer, she is also a CNA at Eben Ezer Lutheran Care Center in Brush in the skilled care building.
Enrolled in her program at Laramie County Community College in Cheyenne year-round through
the summer, Addison Alexander was unable to attend the reception. She is an
echocardiography major and plans to use her scholarship to continue her program.
Colorado P.E.O.’s State Scholarship Fund is just one of their state projects, with more offered at
the international level. P.E.O. members, dedicated to helping women achieve their educational
goals through their philanthropic efforts, have raised over $415 million in scholarships and
grants for recipients in the United States and Canada. The women’s organization was founded
in Iowa in 1869.
