Awards & Honors

A Shawnee Mission Northwest High School student is officially the best scholastic journalist in the state of Kansas. Sofia Ball, a senior and the co-editor-in-chief of the newspaper, is the 2026 Kansas High School Journalist of the Year, and will...

U.S. News & World Report's annual "Best Places to Live" rankings feature three Johnson County cities. The publication picked the 250 top places to live in the U.S., according to several factors, including quality of life, affordability and strength of...

A new basketball court is finally set for construction in Gardner — thanks to fundraising efforts and a $50,000 T-Mobile grant — to honor the late Ashley Gorney, a former teacher and coach at Gardner Edgerton High School. Gorney, then...

Rick Sola, principal of Olathe Public Schools’ Chisholm Trail Middle School, says visibility is key to being a good principal. So every morning, before he reads the morning announcements over the school’s loudspeaker, Sola is out in the hallway, greeting...

A new approach to tenant eviction cases has earned Johnson County national recognition and status as a possible model for other Kansas courts. The Eviction Mediation Pilot Program has proved so successful at settling landlord-tenant cases without involuntary evictions that...

For 50 years, when someone in Johnson County has dialed 911, Med-Act has answered. Behind every call are neighbors — paramedics, EMTs and first responders — ready to bring calm, care, and skill in life’s most urgent moments. As part...

The soft sound of ukulele can sometimes be heard outside the kindergarten classrooms at Central Elementary School in Olathe. Music teacher Rachel Marlow knows school can be scary for first-time students, so her morning serenades are a way to...

The Johnson County Park and Recreation District has received the top honor in the nation for parks and recreation management. The American Academy for Parks and Recreation Administration and the National Recreation and Park Association awarded JCPRD with the 2025...

The legacy of the late Rick Pribyl, a longtime soccer coach and teacher in the Blue Valley School District, lives on in the new name of the soccer field at Switzer District Athletic Complex. The Blue Valley Board of Education...

A team of high schoolers from the Shawnee Mission School District recently took home the top prize in a national barbecue competition. Broadmoor Bistro’s “Caught Smokin” squad earned the top trophy at the National High School BBQ Championship, which was...

Ten students from Johnson County will take the next step in their careers as they head out to U.S. service academies. At a send-off event on Tuesday at Corporate Woods Founders Park, Rep. Sharice Davids and several Armed Forces veterans...

The Johnson County Park and Recreation District is one of four finalists for the 2025 National Gold Medal Award, which is the industry's equivalent to the Super Bowl. This is the ninth time in JCPRD's history that the district has...