Five going into NHS’ Lifetime Achievement Hall of Fame

Five Newton High School Alumni will be inducted into the Lifetime Achievement Hall of Fame during a reception at 10 a.m. Saturday at Santa Fe Middle School. The public is invited.

This year’s recipients include four men and one woman, and span five decades: the 1930’s, ’50s, ’70s, ’80s and ’90s.

The 2009 Newton High School Alumni Lifetime Achievement Award Recipients are Shelly (Dicken) Chenowith, class of 1983; Jeremy Hubbard, class of 1991; Dr. Robert R. Rich, class of 1958; the late Dr. William Staerkel, class of 1938; and Dr. Matthew Stagner, class of 1977.

Shelly Chenowith graduated from Newton High School in 1983 and went on to major in journalism and mass communications at Kansas State University.

Chenowith has served in a variety of communications positions, working for publishing companies, a zoo, several private corporations, educational institutions, and non-profit organizations.

Chenowith was instrumental in establishing the Youth Entrepreneurs of Kansas program at NHS and served as the state Youth Entrepreneurs director for nine years. She serves as the CEO of Girl Scouts of Kansas Heartland, managing 80 staff members in as many Kansas counties, with more than 15,000 scouts and about 5,000 adult volunteers.

Jeremy Hubbard is a 1991 graduate of NHS and studied communications at Wichita State University. An award-winning reporter and anchor, early morning TV viewers may know Hubbard as the anchor of ABC World News Now. From his base in New York, he also serves as a correspondent for Good Morning America, Nightline, and ABC World News.

Following graduation, Hubbard worked at several local radio and TV stations, later moving to TV stations in Kansas City and Denver. From Denver, he moved to Chicago to serve as a Chicago-based correspondent for ABC’s affiliate NewsOne, before being promoted to his current position with ABC.

Hubbard has been recognized with numerous awards including a National Edward R, Murrow Award, three regional Edward R. Murrow awards, the Sigma Chi Delta award from the Society of Professional Journalists, and two regional Emmy Awards.

Dr. Robert R. Rich is a member of the NHS class of 1958, and holds a doctoral degree from The University of Kansas Medical School. Rich participated in two post-doctoral fellowships at Harvard Medical School, following which he assumed a professorship at Baylor College of Medicine. He serves as the senior vice president and dean of the medical school at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Rich has served on numerous national and international medical and editorial boards and has received numerous awards for his research and published findings, including the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Association of Immunologists in 2008.

He is chairman of the Bboard of directors for the Centre for Infectious Diseases Research in Zambia, vice-chairman of the board of directors of the UAB Health System, and a member of the Advisory Panel on Research of the Association of American Medical Colleges.

William M. Staerkel graduated with the NHS class of 1938, and was an athletic and academic standout, excelling at football, track, debate, National Honor Society and journalism.

Staerkel attended Bethel College, where he continued to excel in athletics and academics, graduating in 1942. He was recruited to play football for the Detroit Lions, but WWII intervened, and he instead joined the Navy. Staerkel also played semi-pro baseball several summers with the Pittsburg Pirates farm club.

Staerkel returned to college, earning a master’s from KU, followed by a PhD from Stanford University in 1953. He then taught, coached and served as a school superintendent at various high schools and universities in Kansas, Nebraska, California and Illinois.

In 1967, Staerkel became the founding President of Parkland College in Champaign, Ill. The William M. Staerkel Planetarium of Parkland was named for him and is visited by thousands of school children and other visitors each year.

Matthew W. Stagner graduated from NHS in 1977 and pursued his undergraduate studies at the University of Chicago. He earned a master’s degree in public policy from the JFK School of Government at Harvard, followed by a PhD in Public Policy from the Harris School at the University of Chicago.

Stagner has been a leader on children’s issues throughout his career and has contributed dozens of papers, articles, and research findings for professional publications and periodicals. He serves as the executive director and senior lecturer at Chapin Hall Center at the University of Chicago.

Prior to joining the University of Chicago, Stagner served as the director of the Division of Children and Youth Policy in the office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In addition, he has directed research for the National Research Council and the Center for the Study of Social Policy.