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Immediate Release:
Contact: Karen Sanford Gall
(406)254-7426
BIG SKY
STATE GAMES ANNOUNCES CHARACTER COUNTS!
SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS
The Big Sky State
Games has selected Ashley Crowe of
Billings, Kacie Chatwood of Billings,
Thomas Bonogofsky of Belfry and Thomas
Staffileno of Billings
as the recipients of the 2009 Big
Sky State Games Character Counts!
Scholarship. The
$500 scholarship winners will be
recognized at Opening Ceremonies of the
2009 Big Sky State Games Friday, July
17. The winners were
chosen based on their character,
community involvement, and participation
in sports. Character
Counts! promotes sportsmanship and
fosters good character by teaching,
enforcing, advocating, and modeling, the
“Six Pillars of Character”:
trustworthiness, respect,
responsibility, fairness, caring and
citizenship.
High school juniors
during the 2008-2009 school year that
had participated in the State Games were
eligible to apply for the scholarship.
Selecting students
who are finishing their junior year in
high school ensures that the winners may
be observed as role models during their
senior year.
Ashley Crowe has
participated in several different sports
over the years at the Big Sky State
Games, including swimming for seven
years, karate for three years,
pickleball for two years and triathlon
for three years. This
year Crowe also helped to organize her
families to participation in Shape Up
Montana. She has
achieved a brown belt in Karate and set
12 State records in swimming.
Crowe volunteers as
a swim coach for Special Olympics,
attends
Skyveiw
High School
and hopes to continue her education at
the Air Force Academy where she plans to
pursue a career in medicine.
Kacie Chatwood has
been an active participant in the Big
Sky State Games through soccer
(2003-2005), dance sports-stage events
(2006-2007) and swimming (2005-2008).
Chatwood attends
Billings Senior High where she is a
member of National Honor Society, Senior
Advocates, Senior Trading Cards and
Varsity Choir. She is also a member of
the Varsity Cheerleading Squad.
Chatwood volunteers
with Eagle Mount Ski Program while
maintaining a 3.88 GPA. Chatwood
participated in the Billings Chamber of
Commerce Leadership Program and was a
National Leadership Forum on Medicine
Nominee in 2009.
Thomas Bonogofsky has
been very active in several different
shooting events at the Big Sky State
Games. These events
include High Power Rifle in 2008, Small
bore Rifle Prone 2006-2008 and Sporter
Air Rifle Standing 2004-2005.
He is a three-sport
athlete at
Belfry
High School,
participating in basketball, football,
and track. He was
nominated “Best All Around Athlete” for
the 2006-2007 year. Bonogofsky
is a member of the Honor Roll and
National Honor Society, is Class
President, HOBY Delegate and Candidate
for Summer Seminar at U.S. Naval
Academy. Bonogofsky
hopes to pursue his passion for
basketball and play in college.
Thomas Staffileno, an
avid Tennis player, has been involved in
the Big Sky State Games since he was ten
participating in both the singles and
doubles categories.
Staffileno is a junior at
Billings
Senior High School
and recent State Doubles Tennis
Champion. He is the
Captain of the Varsity Cross Country
team, a member of Varsity Choir, Trading
Cards, Senior Advocates, Student Council
and Young Life. Staffileno
volunteers at Aspen Meadows and
Wyldlife. Staffileno
does all of these activities while
holding a summer job and maintaining a
4.0 GPA.
For additional information, contact the
Big Sky State Games Office at 254-7426,
or visit the website at
www.bigskygames.org. Sponsor of
Character Counts! Scholarship is Kenco
Security and Technology. Major
sponsors of the Big Sky State Games are
First Interstate Bank, Kampgrounds of
America and Bresnan Communications.
Wendy’s sponsors the
Opening Ceremonies.
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