Three area high school seniors who plan to pursue a career in health care have been awarded scholarships by the SSM Health Ripon Community Hospital Auxiliary. 

Each year, the SSM Health Ripon Community Hospital Auxiliary collects scholarship applications from seniors at Green Lake, Markesan, Princeton and Ripon high schools. The $1,500 scholarships are awarded to top-scoring applicants who are pursuing health care in post-secondary studies, have a seven-semester high school GPA of 3.0 or better, demonstrate an initiative to work hard and achieve goals, and participate in co-curricular and service activities.

The 2026 SSM Health Ripon Community Hospital Auxiliary scholarship recipients are:

• Mario Herrera, Markesan High School, is considering nursing and EMT degrees at Moraine Park Technical College.
• Kyler Rieder, Ripon High School, is considering a neuroscience/pre-med track degree at either the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire or Northern Michigan University.
• Alyssa Schmidt, Princeton High School, is considering an emergency physician degree from the University of Wisconsin – Madison.

The SSM Health Ripon Community Hospital Auxiliary’s mission is to support the hospital and its mission to provide quality programs and services to the communities it serves. The Auxiliary raises funds to provide equipment or help meet other needs, as well as providing these annual scholarships. Membership is open to everyone.

In addition, a $500 Arlene Fenner Family Endowed Scholarship was given to Kyler Rieder.

The Arlene Fenner Family Endowed Scholarship was started in 2005 after one of Ripon Community Hospital’s valued volunteers, Arlene Fenner, passed away. She gave the hospital 22 years of dedicated and unselfish service as an employee and volunteer. 

The Fenner family, knowing her love of volunteering, wanted to give something to Ripon Community Hospital in her memory. After deliberation, they decided to keep her memory alive by offering an annual scholarship to area students.

Mario Herrara

Kyler Rieder

Alyssa Schmidt

Date posted: June 18, 2026