Gene Bunnelle - Outstanding American Award: Most folks know Gene Bunnelle as an Associate Commissioner of the Colorado High School Activities Association. Yet he has also been a teacher and coach through his career. He graduated from Rankin Township High School in Rankin, Illinois, obtained his BA degree from Buena Vista College in Storm Lake, Iowa and his Master's in Education from Western State College. He has coached and taught at Varina Consolidated Schools in Iowa (1951-1953), in Hampton, Iowa (1953-1957); Fruita Jr. High (1957-1960) then began his career in administration in 1960 in the Carbondale school district that included Roaring Fork and Glenwood Springs high schools. He became an Administrative Assistant with the Colorado High School Activities Association in 1965. He also was a registered sports official for football, basketball and baseball in Iowa and Colorado and was an official in the 1962 and 1963 state basketball tournaments. While at CHSAA he has served with the National Federation of State High Schools, was on the Executive Board of the National Association of Student Councils. He was also a WWII veteran in the Navy. He is married to Vivian Bunnelle and they have two children, Steven and Cheryl.