Jusufovic, Stansbury named first two recipients of Jarvis Scholarship

IMG 0283JOHNSTON, Ia. (May 12, 2023) — Johnston High School students Piper Stansbury and Advija Jusufovic today became the inaugural recipients of the Ken and Rosie Jarvis Scholarship. 

In a surprise presentation, the two students were each presented with a symbolic check for $1,200 by representatives of the Johnston Community School Foundation. The donors, JHS alumnus Ken Jarvis and his wife Rosie, live in Texas and participated by video. They will be here next week for Johnston’s Senior Recognition Night. 

Jusufovic and Stansbury were chosen to receive this year’s scholarship awards for their strong character, indications of possible future contributions, and the financial impact that the scholarship award would have on their goals. Both stood out to the selection committee as being incredibly hard workers and very resilient.

Creative with a passion for culinary artsIMG 0279

Stansbury impressed the scholarship committee with her clear passion for her culinary career. She also showed that she is flexible and independent. She found her love for culinary arts while taking classes at JHS. She wrote in her application, “I discovered I have a passion for creating something out of nothing.” 

“Piper is a highly creative individual,” JHS culinary teacher Claire Anderson said. “She takes pride in creating recipes, attempting new skills, and plating dishes. Piper has shown she overcomes the many obstacles she faces in school, work, and her personal life. Piper does not have the typical home life a high schooler has but she still continues to come to school, work full time, and live on her own. She continues to strive for more challenges in all areas of her work and school life.”  

Stansbury sought out catering positions at Hy-Vee to further her culinary career and passion. She plans to study at the Iowa Culinary Institute at Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC) next fall, and hopes in the future to manage or own her own business where she can offer an array of artistic foods and beverages.

IMG 0264Dedicated with a future in accounting

The committee described Jusufovic as very driven with clear goals for her future. She has had to adapt in many ways. Her education was impacted by the COVID pandemic only a few months after her family had moved from Bosnia and she had started her schooling in Johnston during her freshman year. She is multilingual in English, Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian. 

As part of the School-to-Work program at JHS, Jusufovic is interning at Merkle Retirement Planning in Grimes.

“She has done an exceptional job learning about all of the services offered, as well as helped with projects in many areas of the business,” said JHS business teacher Lexi Shafer, a School-to-Work coordinator. “She helped drive company profit by adjusting marketing strategies based on data collection and analyzation. Her manager continually expresses how dedicated and driven she is to learn everything she can during her internship for her future career in accounting.”

Jusufovic has a passion for numbers, and through her School-to-Work internship discovered that she could use that passion to help others through financial planning. She will attend DMACC next fall, where she will study liberal arts and later plans to transfer to a university for a 4-year degree. She hopes to ultimately become a certified public accountant (CPA).

Vision for new scholarship 

Ken Jarvis reached out to the Foundation last summer about his desire to establish a scholarship to benefit current JHS students. He talked about how he felt IMG 0255Johnston had provided him with an excellent education that provided a strong foundation for his future and wanted to give back. His wife, Rosie, has been very supportive of his dream to give back every step of the way. Planning for the scholarship began in earnest when Jarvis came to Johnston in September to celebrate his 60-year JHS reunion. 

Academic achievement is not a determining criterion for the Ken and Rosie Jarvis Scholarship. Instead, “quiet contributors and those leading by example are just as valued in this scholarship process.” 

Jarvis said his inspiration for establishing this scholarship included classmates who never went college but are the type of upstanding and civically minded people who get things done in a community, such as first responders. He shared with the Foundation that he wasn’t an academic all-star, but he did feel that he could contribute good character in his school and felt fortunate to discover interests from his connections and opportunities in school.