Nic Snags Valedictorians Full-Tuition Scholarships Keep North Idaho’S Brightest Home

Ten of Kootenai County’s 1999 high school valedictorians didn’t pack their bags for Harvard or Stanford this fall.

They chose North Idaho College.

The school reeled in the top students with full-tuition scholarships - a $1,200 annual value. They were offered to 15 valedictorians in Idaho’s five northern counties.

Ten said yes and are now freshmen at the community college.

This is the first year of “The Board of Trustees-Presidential Scholarships.” The university set aside $17,000 to fund the program in an effort to attract the best and brightest.

“I wanted the community to identify us with quality education,” said college President Michael Burke, who pushed the scholarship idea, along with Board of Trustees Chairman Bill Nixon. “The academic rigor here is extraordinary.”

The students - seven women and three men from Harrison, Priest River, Coeur d’Alene, Post Falls, Plummer, Kellogg and Rathdrum - cite a variety of reasons for turning down thousands of dollars in scholarships from other schools.

Some weren’t ready to go far from home. Others didn’t know what career they wanted to pursue, but wanted to complete core classes while they figured it out. Others felt that NIC was just a better deal.

Derrick Palmiter, from Kootenai High in Harrison, turned down a $15,000 scholarship from the University of Puget Sound in Seattle. Despite the generous offer, a full year’s tuition there costs more than $20,000.

“It wasn’t enough,” Palmiter said. “It made no sense to go to a four-year school when I didn’t know for sure what I was going to do. The first few years of college, you’re just going to be taking core classes anyway. I can get that here in Coeur d’Alene.”

Choosing NIC because it’s a better deal is a common occurrence, said David Lindsay, NIC’s vice president of student services.

Students dream of attending universities like Stanford, but when they discover the cost, “They start backing into reality,” Lindsay said.

That’s not to say all of Kootenai County’s brightest have stayed close to home. Jack Caughran, Post Falls High’s 1999 valedictorian, is a freshman at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass. Caughran plans to become a doctor.

Though Caughran lauds the “amazing” opportunities he has at Harvard, he misses home.

“It’s difficult because I miss everything I left behind and I haven’t figured out what I left it for yet,” Coughran said. “Making the transition to college has been pretty difficult.”

While Harvard attracts the world’s brightest students, NIC has been attracting top students from this region for years, Lindsay said. The new scholarships were created because, “We want more. We want to do better.”

At a time when the nation’s top schools are paying big bucks to recruit the best students, NIC had to make an investment and compete, Lindsay said.

“The hardest area for any college to recruit is in your own back yard,” Lindsay said, citing Lake City and Coeur d’Alene high schools as hardest from which to attract students. “We have had a growing number of the top students. We probably had seven (valedictorians) last year.”

Lindsay Sackman, one of Coeur d’Alene High’s valedictorians, took the NIC scholarship because she wasn’t ready to leave home.

“I didn’t really know what I was doing. I wasn’t sure last year, but now as I’m getting into college, I know a little better,” she said.

Sackman thinks she’ll head off to Montana State University in Billings next year to pursue an education degree.

“I feel really good about my decision,” she said. “I’m really glad I stayed home this year. I feel like I’m getting a good education.”

This sidebar appeared with the story: AT A GLANCE Recipients These 1999 high school valedictorians are the first 10 recipients of North Idaho College’s Board of Trustees-Presidential Scholarships: Melissa Dorrell, Kootenai High Melanie Duley, Priest River High Melanie Johnson, Falls Christian Academy Adam Kolar, Lakeside High Amanda McCombs, Kellogg High Sean Moglia, Coeur d’Alene High Derrick Palmiter, Kootenai High Lindsay Sackman, Coeur d’Alene High Paige Smith, Lakeland High Kira Thompson, Coeur d’Alene High