Get your good news, Johnson County! Twice a month, the Post rounds up some of the good news that came into our inboxes or showed up on our social media feeds.
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And now, onto our latest roundup of good news!
Shawnee Mission East athlete honored with Kenneth Smith Award
A Shawnee Mission East High School golfer was honored with the Kenneth Smith Award, which recognizes outstanding high school student athletes in golf in Greater Kansas City.
Shawnee Mission East’s Ella Slicker was honored last week with the award for demonstrating excellence in her performance in high school golf tournaments, academic achievement, leadership on the golf team and in other school areas and community service.
Slick’s achievements include winning four state championships, being undefeated during her 2022 freshman season (a first ever in Kansas 6A history) and finishing first five times and second four times in the girls’ 2025 season.
Slick is also the co-founder of a flag football tournament to benefit St Jude’s Hospital, a bell ringer for the Salvation Army and a Harvester’s food bank volunteer.
Johnson County Museum wins “Success Story” award
The Johnson County Museum won the Success Stories Award at the 2025 Governor’s Conference on the Future of Water in Kansas for its special “Ripples: Water, Community, and You” exhibit.
“Success Stories” recipients are selected as an entity or individual taking extraordinary measures to conserve, reuse or adopt better practices to help ensure the future of the state’s water resources. They can be individuals, municipalities, companies or organizations.
The exhibit explores explores how water has connected everyone, from the past, present, and future, and our complicated relationship to it. It tells the story through interactive displays, artifacts, and stories.
The exhibit runs through Jan. 10 at the Johnson County Museum.
Prairie Village Police Officer given Life Saving Award
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Prairie Village Police Ofc. Seth Dittemore was honored with the Life Saving Award from the Kansas City Metro Chiefs & Sheriff’s Association last month.
Dittemore earned this recognition after responding to a Mission Hills call in July 2025 during which an older male was suffering from a heart issue.
Dittemore performed CPR and used AED to help the older male regain a pulse before the person was transported to the hospital and, ultimately, made a full recovery.
Shawnee Mission music director honored
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Ed Tovar, the band director at Shawnee Mission North, earned the Outstanding Young Music Educator in High School Band Award from the East Central Music Educator’s Association, according to a district press release.
Recipients are nominated by a music educator colleague and then are evaluated by an executive board.
A lifelong musician, Tovar believes in the transformative power of music education, whether it’s guiding beginners or coaching advanced players according to his Shawnee Mission North High School bio.
He was honored on Saturday at the East Central Kansas Music Educators Mini Convention.
Lenexa gift store honored among the most ‘Christmassy’ stores
A Lenexa gift shop scored high in a national survey for stores with the biggest holiday vibes.
A national survey conducted by MarketBeat, a financial media company, listed the top local shops or national retailers that give off the strongest holiday spirit.
Landing in the top 100, among big hitters like New York’s Macy’s Herald Square and Sak’s Fifth Avenue, was Lenexa’s Past And Presents Card Gifts & Home.
The shop, which sell ornaments, gifts, cards and seasonal decor. was noted for its warm, simple and reliably cheerful atmosphere.
The Golden Scoop named highest rated women-owned small business
In a new national study, The Golden Scoop in Overland was named the #1 highest-rated women-owned small business in Kansas and the #2 women-owned coffee shop and café in all of America.
Conducted by OnDeck, the study analyzed more than 12,000 women-owned small businesses across 431 U.S. cities and used Yelp ratings and review volume to identify the most loved both nationally and in each state.
Prairie Village nursing home named one of the best in the U.S.
Claridge Court in Prairie Village, Kansas, was recognized among the Best Nursing Homes for 2026 by U.S. News & World Report.
The publication’s 2026 Best Nursing Homes ratings are highly selective, with fewer than 19% of the nearly 15,000 nursing homes evaluated nationwide earning the distinction.
It considers patient and resident outcomes, hospital readmission rates, staffing levels, health inspections, and other quality indicators.
