During the August 11th, 2026 Rock Island-Milan School District Board meeting, a group of 34 scholars were recognized with the Charles O. Austin Award. The award is presented to scholars with a 3.5 GPA or above for six consecutive semesters.

The designation was established back in 1999 by the RIMSD #41 Board of Education in honor of Charles O. Austin, Jr., who served RIMSD for 14 years as Rock Island High School Principal and for 7 years as Superintendent of Schools. Austin demanded excellence, was a role model for achievement, and directly impacted the lives of thousands of our community's youth.

The following scholars were acknowledged:

Nathan Anderson, Elliot Batz, Alaina Bonja, Marely Bunch, Ava Combs-Peppmeyer, Charles Cooley, Ella DeJonghe, Grace Driskill, Sophia Giesler, Tahir Hassan, Dylan Hartzler, Macie Hixson, Jaylee James, Ayla Kaha, Rose K’Paw, Chase LeMaster, Addyson Lincoln, Karley Loveless, Sarah Louise, Megan Mason, Eliza Mathews, Liam Muir, Nathan Pothoven, Kylee Raygor, Ywa Say, Madelyn Schrempf, Christ Soe, Marley Smith, Parker Stannke, Charlotte Toyi, Alexander Wulgaert, Jalani Williams, Sonia Williams, and Isai Zetina.

Thank you to everyone who came to celebrate the commendable work of these scholars. We could not be more proud of them as they head into their senior year!