• Dodge City student Carissa DeVoss won the $55,000 Walsh English Scholarship to attend Wichita State.
• It's the largest English scholarship at WSU.

A passion for writing has led to a golden opportunity for Carissa DeVoss, a senior at Dodge City High School. 

DeVoss has been named the winner of the Anna Kathleen Walsh English Scholarship, which will award DeVoss about $13,900 a year for four years, or $55,600, to attend Wichita State University.

It's the largest English scholarship awarded at WSU.

DeVoss plans to major in English beginning this fall, emphasizing creative writing and theater.

“Writing has always been my No. 1 passion, because in writing, anything can happen and nothing is impossible,” DeVoss wrote in her scholarship application.

Her high school activities include drama club, Class Act Chorale and National Honors Society. She has also held lead roles with the Depot Theater Company, a community theater. 

Kathleen Walsh and her father, J. Martyn Walsh, shared a passion for the English language and co-wrote the Plain English Handbook, at one time the best-selling grammar handbook in the nation. Kathleen was a leader in state and national education and was elected to the Kansas Teacher’s Hall of Fame. She died Jan. 8, 2013, at the age of 105.

The Walsh scholarship is awarded without regard to financial need and is used to cover full tuition, fees, books and the equivalent of on-campus room and board for a minimum of 12 hours each semester.