​Marion High School Alumni Association congratulates this year’s winners of the MHSAA F. Ritchie Walton Arts Scholarship: Mia Orr and Jayden Patterson.

This scholarship honors Marion High School students for their accomplishments and involvement in arts education, and their plans to pursue a career in the arts.

The MHSAA F. Ritchie Walton Endowment for the Arts was established last year, combining the MHSAA Giant Arts Endowment, founded in 2015, and the F. Ritchie Walton Endowment, founded in 2002 in honor of innovative music educator F. Ritchie Walton, who put Marion High School on the map with excellent music and theatre programs. Walton’s legacy lives on in the performing arts center named for him at Marion High School.

Mia Orr is a CSA Arts Academy student who has trained for 15 years in theatre, music, dance, and technical theatre. She is a member of the Marion High School chapter of the National Honor Society, and she is an exemplary performing artist, student, and leader. Over the years she has performed in countless productions on the F. Ritchie Walton Performing Arts Center stage. Mia will be pursuing a bachelor of fine arts in theatre arts at Milliken University, with a focus on acting. She is a part of the exclusive Long-Vandenburg program for extraordinary incoming freshman students, and is also the recipient of a merit award for academics at Milliken. 

​Jayden Patterson has been involved with the Marion High School band program throughout high school and is a highly respected leader among his peers. He has been a member of the Marching Giants, the wind ensemble, pep band, and jazz band. In addition, he has danced at Playhouse Studio of Dance in Marion for 12 years. He plans to attend Purdue Fort Wayne as a music major. 

Congratulations to these two outstanding young artists!

If you would like to give to the MHSAA F. Ritchie Walton Endowment for the Arts, you can do so online here: givetogrant.org/giantarts. ​