HAYS, Kan. -- An event in Garden City on Jan. 24 will kick off Fort Hays State University's annual 13-city Student Recognition Program traveling scholarship series to recognize scholarship winners.

High school juniors and seniors in Kansas, Nebraska and Colorado have been invited to SRPs in their areas.

SRPs are held in communities across Kansas, in southern Nebraska and in Denver to accommodate area students and their parents and guardians. High school seniors will receive certificates for a variety of scholarships that have been awarded to them by FHSU.

FHSU alumni and other interested community members are also encouraged to attend.

Receptions hosted by local FHSU alumni include a dessert buffet provided by the FHSU Alumni Association. This year, the events in Dodge City and Beloit, Kan., and Holdrege, Neb., will have pizza instead of the dessert buffet. Each event will feature a multimedia presentation by University President Edward H. Hammond and two drawings -- one for a $400 FHSU Student Recognition Program Scholarship and another for a laptop computer. Four $400 SRP scholarships will be awarded at the reception in Hays.

Two SRPs are scheduled for Sunday, Jan. 24: in Garden City at 2 p.m. at the Clarion Hotel and Convention Center (formerly Plaza Hotel), 1911 E. Kansas Avenue, and in Dodge City at 6 p.m. at Dodge City High School, 2201 W. Ross Road. The registration deadline for both is Jan. 20.

Students from 13 southwestern Kansas counties attend the Garden City event: Finney, Grant, Greeley, Hamilton, Haskell, Kearny, Lane, Morton, Scott, Seward, Stanton, Stevens and Wichita. Garden City also invites students from Baca, Bent, Kiowa and Prowers counties in Colorado.

The Dodge City SRP recognizes students from Ford, Clark, Comanche, Edwards, Gray, Hodgeman, Kiowa and Meade counties and from Ness City in Ness County.

The Great Bend SRP begins at 7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 25, in the Highland Hotel and Convention Center, 3017 W. 10th St. The registration deadline is Jan. 21. The event features scholarship winners from Barton, Pawnee, Pratt, Rice, Russell and Stafford counties and Otis-Bison in Rush County.

Phillipsburg's SRP begins at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 28, in the Huck Boyd Community Center, 860 Park St. The registration deadline is Jan. 25. The event serves students from Phillips, Graham, Norton and Smith counties and from Stockton and Palco in Rooks County.

The Wichita and Salina SRPs are on Sunday, Jan. 31, with a registration deadline of Jan. 27. Wichita is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. in the Mariott, 9100 Corporate Drive, and Salina begins at 7 p.m. at the Bicentennial Center, 800 The Midway.

The Wichita SRP hosts students from 19 counties in south-central and southeastern Kansas: Sedgwick, Barber, Butler, Chautauqua, Cherokee, Crawford, Cowley, Elk, Greenwood, Harper, Harvey, Kingman, Labette, Montgomery, Neosho, Reno, Sumner, Wilson and Woodson.

The Salina SRP recognizes students from Saline, Chase, Clay, Dickinson, Ellsworth, Geary, Marion, McPherson, Morris and Ottawa counties.

The Beloit SRP begins at 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 1, at Beloit High School, 1711 Walnut. The registration deadline is Jan. 28. Students are invited from the Kansas counties of Mitchell, Cloud, Jewell, Lincoln, Republic and Washington, from Osborne and Downs in Osborne County, and from the Nebraska counties of Clay, Jefferson, Nuckolls and Thayer.

An SRP in Holdrege, Neb., will begin at 7 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 8, at The Tassel, 1324 Tilden St. Registration deadline is Feb. 4. Students from 14 Nebraska counties are invited: Adams, Buffalo, Dawson, Franklin, Frontier, Furnas, Gosper, Hall, Harlan, Kearney, Lincoln, Phelps, Red Willow and Webster.

SRPs are scheduled for Kansas City, Kan., at 1:30 p.m., and Topeka, at 7 p.m., on Sunday, Feb. 14. Kansas City's will be at the Doubletree Hotel, 10100 College Blvd., Overland Park. Topeka's will be at Capitol Plaza Hotel and Convention Center, 1717 SW Topeka Blvd. The registration deadline for both is Feb. 10.

The Kansas City event hosts students from Johnson, Allen, Anderson, Atchinson, Bourbon, Doniphan, Douglas, Franklin, Leavenworth, Linn and Miami counties.

The Topeka SRP serves students in Shawnee, Brown, Coffey, Jackson, Jefferson, Lyon, Marshall, Nemaha, Osage, Pottawatomie, Riley and Wabaunsee counties.

Colby's SRP, at 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 15, will be in the City Limits Convention Center, 2227 S. Range. The registration deadline is Feb. 11. This event recognizes students from the Kansas counties of Thomas, Cheyenne, Decatur, Gove, Logan, Rawlins, Sheridan, Sherman and Wallace, from the Nebraska counties of Chase, Dundy, Hayes and Hitchcock, and from the Colorado counties of Cheyenne and Kit Carson.

The Denver SRP begins at 1:30 p.m. Mountain time Sunday, Feb. 21, in the Renaissance Denver Hotel, 3801 Quebec St. Students are invited to the Denver SRP from all Colorado counties except Baca, Bent, Cheyenne, Kiowa, Kit Carson and Prowers, which are included in the Kansas SRPs in Colby and Garden City. The reservation deadline is Feb. 17.

The Hays SRP, at 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 22, will be in FHSU's Memorial Union, 600 Park St. The registration deadline is Feb. 19. The event features scholarship winners from Ellis and Trego counties and from LaCrosse in Rush County, Natoma in Osborne County, Plainville in Rooks County and Ransom in Ness County.

To register for any of the SRPs, call (785) 628-5673.

Scholarships to be awarded include the Miller Black and Gold Academic Award, a renewable, $1,200-a-year scholarship; the Hays City Silver Academic Award, a renewable, $800-a-year scholarship; the Fort Hays Bronze Academic Award, a one-time, $700 scholarship; and the Copper Academic Award, a one-time $500 scholarship.

These awards go automatically to students based on their scores on the ACT exam. Many high school seniors attending will also receive departmental Academic Opportunity Awards, which are one-time $900 or $500 scholarships based on students' academic majors.

For more information, call the FHSU Office of Admissions at 1-800-628-FHSU or e-mail admissions@fhsu.edu. For more information on contacting alumni sponsors of SRP receptions, contact the FHSU Alumni Association at (785) 628-4430 or alumni@fhsu.edu.