Community Education Breakfast

The breakfast event, which takes place at the Lawrence DoubleTree by Hilton, provides an opportunity for local businesses and community members to demonstrate their support for public education.

Date: Friday, September 13, 2024
Time: 7:30-9:00 am (Doors will open at 7:15 am)
Location: DoubleTree By Hilton – 200 McDonald Drive
Click Link Below For 2024 Guest Speaker!

This high-profile event will be held to kick off the 2024-2025 school year and will feature alumni guest speaker Jaunelle White, Lawrence High School graduate, 1996.     

 

2024 Featured Speaker, Jaunelle White, Lawrence High School graduate, 1996.       

Jaunelle White is entering her third academic year at Point as the institution’s Vice President of Intercollegiate Athletics. White is the university’s third athletic director and first female director. 

2022-2023: White oversaw the transition of full membership from the Appalachian Athletic Conference to the Southern States Athletic Conference. She also added Women’s Flag Football to the Athletic Department, which competes in the Sun Conference and will have its inaugural season in Spring 2024. White oversaw three NAIA National Tournament teams, three NAIA All-Americans (Softball, Men’s Golf, and Football), and one Appalachian Athletic Conference Championship team (Women’s Basketball). 

2021-2022: In her first year at the department’s helm, White has overseen three programs earning NAIA National Tournament Appearances, one making an Appalachian Athletic Conference Championship (Men’s Soccer), three student-athletes being named All-Americans, and student-athletes receiving 100 all-conference awards. Point University was named an NAIA Champions of Character Five-Star Silver institution. 

White comes to Point with nearly 20 years of athletic administration experience, particularly at the NCAA Division I level. Most recently, White served as the senior associate athletic director for internal operations and senior woman administrator at Indiana University—Purdue University Indianapolis. She has served in several athletic administrative roles, including compliance, at Texas Southern, University of South Alabama, Middle Tennessee State University, and Louisiana State University. 

White is a native of Lawrence, Kansas, and played collegiate volleyball at Auburn University from 1996 to 2002. She holds a master’s degree in education and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Auburn University.

White and her late husband (Marcus) have four children. 

Mark your calendars – as you aren’t going to want to miss this one!

Be Sure To Also Check Out Our 2025 & 2026 Featured Speakers Below!

Jaunelle White, Community Education Breakfast Featured Guest 2024

Thank you to our 2023 event sponsors:

      Valedictorian Major Sponsors

Valedictorian Sponsors 

First Student, Inc
Truity Credit Union

Edmonds Duncan Registered Investment Advisors

Deans List Sponsors 

Pur-O-Zone
Sandra Gautt
University of Kansas/ Kansas Athletics, Inc.

Merit Scholar Sponsors 

CEK Insurance
Commerce Bank
Cork & Barrel
DoubleTree By Hilton Lawrence

Emprise Bank

Laird Noller Automotive
Marsh McLennan Agency
McDonalds of Lawrence
MidAmerican Credit Union
P1 Group, Inc.
Jon & Rosy Elmore 
Bill & Cindy Self

Honor Roll Sponsors

Alpha Roofing

Capitol Federal Foundation
City of Lawrence
Crown Automotive
Feldmeyer Financial
Free State Financial Group a Private Wealth Advisory Practice of Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC
Gail & Kevan Vick
Guardian Mortgage/ Sunflower Bank
Jefferson’s
Kindred CPA
Landmark Bank
Lawrence Dance Gallery

LMH Health                                                                                                                                    Legacy Work Consulting, LLC

Mainstreet Credit Union
McCownGordon, LLC
Meritrust Credit Union
Pretzels Inc. / Hershey’s
Security Benefit

Stevens & Brand

Stephens Real Estate
SumnerOne
Warren-McElwain Mortuary

Friends of Foundation Sponsors

Allworth
Bert Nash
BG Consultants, Inc.

Central National Bank

Clark/Huesemann
Colliers
Dole Institute of Politics
Douglas County Community Foundation
Envista
First State Bank
GCSAA

Gene Fritzel Construction

Intrust Bank
John & Deanell Tacha
Keller Craig & Associates

Kurt Goeser State Farm Agency

KU School of Education & Human Sciences
Lied Center of Kansas
McGrew Real Estate
Midwest Concrete Materials
Min/Max Photography
Multistudio 
Owens Flower Shop
Robby Steinhardt Foundation
Security Benefit
Silver Lake Bank
Speech Solutions, LLC
Sylvan Learning

 

Sneak Peek Into 2025!

2025 Featured Speaker, Jerod Nieder, Lawrence Free State High School graduate, 2001.       

Hanna and Jerod Nieder are an interabled couple known for their Instagram
platform @positivelyparalyzed. Leveraging the power of social media to
educate, inform and inspire people living with paralysis, the newly married
couple has gained national recognition with their heartwarming love story,
garnering over 1.1M views on YouTube. The Nieders aim to build relationships
and create community, both online and in-person, by sharing their passion for
adventures and travel, through their @positivelyparalyzed lens of accessibility,
inclusion and representation.

Currently residing in Louisville, Kentucky, with their dog, Belle, Jerod has been a
participant at the Kentucky Spinal Cord Injury Research Center for 8 years, and
for the last 5 years, Hanna has been his sole caregiver. Jerod’s spinal cord
injury happened on December 18, 2011 from a diving accident, and 10 years
later, to the day, December 18, 2021, Jerod married Hanna, transforming the
date into positive memory. Hanna and Jerod lead by example and hope their
@positivelyparalyzed platform inspires others to do the same.

 

Save The Date: September 2025

 

And A Sneak Peek Into 2026!

2026 Featured Speaker, Alex Hyler, Lawrence High School graduate, 2009.       

Alex Hyler, Lawrence High School 2009 graduate, and daughter of Drs. Eric and Linda Hyler, grew up in Lawrence, Kansas attending Raintree, Sunflower Elementary, Southwest Junior High, and Lawrence High School. During her time growing up, Alex was a competitive gymnast for over 6 years. Throughout high school, she was active in diving, debate, choir, and forensics, and she participated in the Eutin Sister City’s exchange. Upon graduating from LHS in 2009, Alex was Valedictorian and gave a graduation speech. She went on to attend the University of Kansas earning her bachelors with honors in chemical engineering with a minor in German in 2013. At KU, Alex volunteered regularly at the Dole Institute of Politics, led Sellards Scholarship Hall as proctor for two years, and attended nearly every Kansas basketball game at Allen Fieldhouse. Afterwards, she earned her PhD in biomedical engineering from the Virginia Tech-Wake Forest School of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences in 2018 in Blacksburg, Virginia. While at VT, Alex earned a Fulbright to conduct some of her PhD research in Copenhagen, Denmark. She was named the Outstanding Graduate Student of the Year at graduation for her work in scholarship and community outreach, particularly for her time serving as President of the Graduate and Professional Student Senate. She has expertise in ovarian cancer biology, microfluidics, and device engineering. Alex is currently the Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer for CytoRecovery, a dynamic startup working to commercialize new cell separation and recovery technologies. She manages CytoRecovery’s research and technology commercialization portfolios, leads all scientific research projects and collaborations, explores innovate applications, transitions products to production for market launch, and develops and maintains all customer relationships. In her professional career to date, she has authored five publications, has four pending patent applications, and has given dozens of conference presentations and talks across the globe. Alex also regularly gives talks and serves on panels advising current high school, college, and internship students.  When she’s not working, Alex enjoys traveling the world (32 countries, 37 states, and counting), watching sports (Rock Chalk, Go Hokies, Go Chiefs), visiting her family, and spoiling her two dogs, Phog and Allie.

 

Save The Date: September 2026

Foundation Board Members

Special Funds

Grants & Awards

Scholarships

Get In Touch

Location: 110 McDonald Drive Lawrence KS 66044

Telephone: (785) 330-1941

Email: djohnsto@usd497.org