Alumni Achievement Awards

The Alumni Achievement Award Program, developed in 1997, recognizes graduates of the School for unique, specific, or significant accomplishments in business or professional careers, such as the arts, athletics, or sciences, for community service, and for academic excellence. Annually, Milton Hershey School® honors several alumni and senior students who share similar achievements in the areas of business or professional careers, community service, and academic achievement or excellence.

The honored alumni and students will be recognized during the annual dinner for alumni and MHS seniors that is sponsored by the MHS Alumni Association. Each honored senior will receive a certificate and will be awarded a $1,000 savings bond at the School's award ceremony prior to commencement in June. Honored alumni receive certificates and will be featured in a Founders Hall Display for the next year.

Kimberly Bishop Elenberg '88 in the area of Career Accomplishments

Kimberly Bishop Elenberg '88 works in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Force Readiness and Deployment as the director for training and education. She plans, develops, and executes training for more than 6,200 officers through the Office of the Surgeon General and the Office of Public Health. While serving as director for biosurveillance and emergency response at the Department of Agriculture, she orchestrated the design and development of two nationwide electronic food safety and security systems in addition to assisting with the design of the Department of Homeland Security's National Bio Surveillance Information System. Through artificial intelligence modeling, she expanded the USDA's ability to identify and mitigate intentional and naturally occurring food contamination. In 2007, she received the Surgeon General's Exemplary Service Medal. In 2008, she served aboard the USS Boxer in Central America as part of Operation Continuing Promise. Elenberg also helped author a charter for the Federal Education and Training Interagency Group for Public Health and Medical Disaster Preparedness and Response.

Janelle Kiehl '09, involved in honors and advanced placement academic programming throughout high school, has been recognized as a member of the Distinguished Honor Roll, Honor Roll and Effort and Conduct Honor Roll. In addition to regular academic programming at Senior Hall, during her senior year, she also successfully completed two courses at Lebanon Valley College. In recent years, she has excelled as a member of the Culinary Arts program, and has served in a co-op placement at The Hershey Lodge. She plans to go to college to study business management in hopes of one day becoming an entrepreneur.

Rasheeda Grant '99 in the area of Community Service

Rasheeda Grant '99 has been a New York Cares volunteer since 2005, and since joining, she has volunteered on a range of different projects and made a real difference in the lives of many of her fellow New Yorkers. Whether reading with children before school, or singing with seniors, she has shown many people that someone cares. In August 2008, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg invited Grant and other New York City volunteers to Gracie Mansion to pay tribute to volunteerism in New York City. Recently, she was chosen by NYCares to serve on their council to improve projects with NYCares. For two consecutive years Grant has qualified for the special "Presidential Service Award," having volunteered more than 200 hours of service with NYCares each year. Grant also is very actively involved as a Group Leader in the Community Groups Ministry of World Changers Church New York, as a volunteer for the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer and the American Diabetes Association's Diabetes Walk.

Thomas Rehberg '09 has been enrolled in honors level programming and named to the Honor Roll and Effort and Conduct Honor Roll numerous times during high school. His teachers have described him as a "quiet leader - one who does not toot his own horn."  In recent years, he has traveled to Biloxi, Miss., twice, where he was part of a team of individuals from MHS that was charged with rebuilding homes damaged by Hurricane Katrina. Recently, he advocated for a return third trip to continue the rebuilding process for families who lost their homes along the Gulf Coast. Rehberg has a positive influence on his peers in the carpentry program, as a resident student advisor in Transitional Living, and in the stage crew, where he enjoys spending most of his free time. He plans to attend Penn College of Technology, where he will major in construction management

Cordel Robbin-Coker '04 in the area of Academic Excellence

Cordel Robbin-Coker '04, valedictorian of his MHS class, is a 2008 graduate of Stanford University where he earned a B.A. in political science while achieving a 3.5 GPA. He also received the Deans Award for Academic Excellence. He now works as a financial analyst in the Financial Institutions Group of Morgan Stanley. The summer before he graduated from college, Robbin-Coker worked as a summer analyst for Morgan Stanley Real Estate, and in 2006, he had been awarded a two-year academic scholarship through Morgan Stanley's Richard B. Fisher Scholars Program, which recognized him as an exceptionally qualified, minority undergraduate candidate. While at Stanford, he was an active member of Alpha Kappa Psi, a professional business fraternity, through which he provided consulting services to non-profit organizations as a member of the "Pi Tau Consulting Group." Additionally, he was a 3-year starter and captain of the Stanford Men's Rugby team.

Joshua Chaplin '09 has been enrolled in honors and advanced placement academic coursework during high school, and his academic excellence, character, leadership and service record resulted in his being inducted into the Spartan Chapter of the National Honor Society as a junior. He has also been named to the Distinguished Honor Roll and Effort and Conduct Honor Roll during each of his high school years. In addition to a stellar academic background, Chaplin has been involved in varsity athletic programming in soccer, wrestling and baseball. During his junior year, he was involved in the Student Government Association Executive Cabinet, and is now involved in the senior class caucus.  While his college plans with regard to location remain undecided, he is planning to study journalism with a concentration in sports journalism.

Milton Hershey School® values the successes of our alumni and welcomes the opportunity to recognize them in an effort to provide role models for our students.

Congratulations to our Alumni Achievement Award recipients for 2009! 

Front, from left, Rasheeda Grant '99, Cordel Robbin-Coker '04, John Hanawalt '70, MHS Alumni Association president; middle row, from left, Thomas Rehberg '09, Pete Gurt '85, MHS vice president, Janelle Kiehl '09; back, from left, Joanne (Troischt) Gagnon '85, MHSAA vice president, Joshua Chaplin '09, and Kimberly (Bishop) Elenberg '88.