Ralph Yarl offers $50,000 scholarship to Kansas City area teen

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Ralph Yarl, the Missouri teenager who was shot in the head after ringing the wrong doorbell in 2023, is inspiring other local students to follow their dreams despite the adversities life throws at them.

“It just allows me to realize my potential as a human being. Like I'm lucky enough to have this brain, and I feel like I have to use it to use all of its power to make changes in this world,” Yarl said at the annual KC event Scholars this weekend.

Although he suffered a traumatic brain injury following a shooting that attracted national attention, he graduated from Staley High School and plans to study chemical engineering at Texas A&M.

To honor her resilience, KC Scholars established the Ralph Yarl Scholarship and awarded it to the very first recipient, Isabella Peters.

“That represents resilience to me. It represents continuing to move forward no matter what,” said Nancy Lewis, chief operating officer at Great Jobs KC/KC Scholars. “A lot of our scholars and families are going through a lot. Life happens and it can be daunting, but we are here to bridge the gap. We are here to support them throughout their journey. »

The $50,000 scholarship was awarded to Peter, a 2025 graduate of Lincoln College Prep. She shares Ralph's love of music and wants to attend UMKC to combine her passion for psychology and the arts to help hospitalized children.

She says those dreams might not have been possible without the financial help.

“This scholarship is a once-in-a-lifetime thing, so it’s really rewarding and when I saw the email and everything, I was like oh my God,” Peters said. “It was like the weight had been lifted off my shoulders because now I won't have to go to my grandmother and say, oh, can you help me pay for college or to get student loans.”

This year alone, KC Scholars is awarding more than 1,200 students with scholarships worth more than $48 million.

They plan to award the Ralph Yael Scholarship to a different student each year in his honor.

“I just hope it makes his future a little easier without having to worry about finances and helps him pursue his passions,” Yarl said.

For more information about KC Scholars, see here.