Castle Rock names four seniors for 2026 Rising Star Scholarship

Castle Rock is using its Rising Star Scholarship to do more than hand out tuition help. The town’s 2026 awards went to four seniors whose records already show coaching, hospital volunteering, student government and community service, a lineup that says as much about Castle Rock’s talent pipeline as it does about the students themselves.

Annabelle Clayton of Renaissance Secondary School plans to study quantitative biosciences and engineering at Colorado School of Mines. Her résumé includes coaching youth soccer, serving as a junior camp counselor for families affected by cancer and volunteering on ski patrol. Quinlen Dow of Castle View High School will study speech, language and auditory sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder after working as a children’s swim coach and volunteering in the labor and delivery unit at AdventHealth Castle Rock.

Matthew Kelsey of Douglas County High School is headed to the University of Alabama to study mathematics and economics. His civic work has included blood drives, food pantries and outdoor education. Jesminda Richmond, also of Douglas County High School, plans to major in human biology and minor in leadership studies at the University of Colorado Denver after years in student government and helping raise more than $100,000 for Make-A-Wish.

Each student received a $1,000 scholarship, and the money goes directly to a higher education institution rather than to the student. The awards are nonrenewable and are meant to help cover tuition, fees and course enrollment, a small sum in the context of college costs but a clear signal of what the town values when it invests in its own graduating seniors.

The Youth Commission reviewed qualified applications at its April 13 meeting after the application window closed March 31. The town said it received 20 applications from seniors who either live in Castle Rock or attend a Castle Rock high school. Recipients were recognized at a Town Council meeting May 5 at 6 p.m.

Castle Rock created the Youth Commission in January 2025 as a nine-member advisory body appointed to two-year terms. The commission’s stated charge includes involvement, communication, engagement and recognition for local youth, and the scholarship has become one of its most visible tools. In 2025, the inaugural scholarship drew 33 applications from students across five of Castle Rock’s 12 local high schools, with a review panel that included youth from the Teen Advisory Group, Fire Explorers, Teen Court and Youth Police Academy, along with town staff and council liaisons.

Councilmember Tim Dietz, the commission’s liaison, has said the students represent Castle Rock’s future because of their academic work, compassion and service. The scholarship’s dollars are modest, but its public message is sharper: Castle Rock is rewarding students who already show up for their schools, hospitals, teams and charities, and asking them to carry that habit into college and adult life.