Beau Kenkel is fascinated with outer space. It is not outlandish to say he could be the first Golden Bear to venture outside of Earth’s atmosphere.
The Shelbyville High School senior is focused on becoming an aeronautical engineer. On Tuesday, that dream became a little closer to reality when the Blue River Community Foundation surprised Kenkel as the 2023 Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship winner for Shelby County.
Kenkel will receive full tuition, required fees and up to $900 per year for books and required equipment for four years of undergraduate study at an Indiana college or university.
“This is massive,” said Kenkel while looking at the endowment certificate presented to him Tuesday morning in the Golden Bear Room at Shelbyville High School. “Once you graduate, you are not in debt. It’s a step up. It means I don’t have to go through that stress of student loan debt.
“I hear my brothers talk about their student loan debt with my parents and it can get stressful at times. This will help me completely eliminate that. I don’t think a lot of kids realize how big of a deal this is, and how much money it is and how expensive further education is after high school.”
Kenkel, the son of Barbara and Daniel Kenkel, plans to attend Purdue University in the fall and major in Engineering. To do so means shelving his competitive running career. Kenkel is Shelbyville’s top male distance runner in both cross country and track and field. There is interest for him to compete at the next level at smaller state schools with strong Engineering programs.
That decision will come at a later date. For now, he can celebrate being the 2023 Lilly Endowment winner which means he topped a field of 45 applicants from the five Shelby County high schools.
Through a blind application process, the scholarship committee selects six applicants to progress on to the interview stage. That listed included Shelbyville’s Isabella Bradburn and Emma Sandman, Triton Central’s Madison Brown and Hallie Schweitzer, and Southwestern’s McKinley Correll.
Kenkel admitted to being comfortable with the typically nerve-wracking 30-minute interview stage of the process.
“I have been in a few interviews before and I kind of enjoy it,” said Kenkel. “My mom said treat it like a conversation and be you. So that’s exactly what I did. It was a 30-minute interview but to me it felt like five minutes. It was an awesome time. I got to express myself, not just in writing but verbally, and kind of tell my story.”
The other five finalists will receive four-year renewable scholarships from one of the 95 scholarship funds administered by the Blue River Community Foundation.
During the application process, Kenkel had to provide two letters of recommendation. He chose Father Mike Keucher from St. Joseph Catholic Church and Shelbyville High School Language Arts teacher Doug Uehling.
“Outside of the classroom, this young man has excelled in volunteerism and service,” said Uehling of Kenkel in a BRCF media release about the application process. “From being a stellar mentor in our school and community to organizing events like a coat drive and 5km charity run, this young man has set the bar for others to follow. On a daily basis he can be seen making a difference in the classroom and halls. Speaking bluntly, I don’t have the words to describe what a good heart he has. I have been left speechless on many an occasion from his acts of service. What I can say is this – he is the type of person who reminds me daily as to why I love teaching and believe in its mission. You will not find a better example of someone giving back to his school and community.”
While his mother and two brothers work in the medical industry, Kenkel believes his love of engineering comes from his father, who is a quality assurance engineer.
“I’ve always found interest in space and how small the Earth is compared to outer space, but at the same time I love engineering and the hands on stuff,” he said. “I would love to design and help humans travel outside of Earth, whether that’s in this lifetime or the next, I just want to help that movement of exploring. I have that adventurous mindset of something beyond Earth.”
While not necessarily looking to become an astronaut, the privatized route to outer space is gaining ground within the space industry.
“It’s happening more and more with all these privatized companies,” said Kenkel. “I hope I still have quite a few years left in my life so who knows, in the next 20 years it may be more available for people. That could be a thing (for me).”
At the time of his application, Kenkel carried a 4.18 grade point average and is involved in National Honor Society (President), Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Student to Student Mentoring, Boy Scouts, and the SHS Student Athletic Advisory Committee. He is a member of the SHS cross country and track and field teams and is a first-time member this year of the SHS swim program.
“This is surreal. I was shaking. I tend to sweat when I get nervous,” said Kenkel with a big smile after the Golden Bear Room emptied out. “Just to see all these people in (the Golden Bear Room) that made this happen, it warmed my heart. It meant a lot to me. I can’t wait to hug my parents.”
The Lilly Endowment Inc. created the LECS Program for the 1998-1999 school year and has supported the program every year since with tuition grants totaling in excess of $486 million.
More than 5,000 Indiana students, including 42 from Shelby County, have received the LECS since the program’s inception.
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