2007/2008 Scholarship Award Winners
Posted on May 17, 2007
John Shier, chairman of the Scholarship Committee of the Community Foundation of St. Clair County announced that it will be awarding $135,860 in total scholarship grants to over 72 St. Clair County residents from 20 funds held at the Foundation. Scholarship funds comprise over $4.2 million dollars of the Foundation’s $33 million dollar assets. Each year, scholarships are configured on the previous year’s earnings. Only earnings and interest from the funds are used as the grantable income for scholarships. Principal of each fund is held above historical value, thus Scholarship Funds will never diminish in size and the donor’s objective will carry on as a legacy. Of the 105 funds established at the Foundation, 33 funds are scholarship designated.
The John F. & Rose Marie Wismer Scholarship Fund offers a $5,000 renewable grant for up to 4 years to students achieving academic excellence with emphasis on community service. For the 2007/2008 school year, the Wismer Fund will award 6 recipients with $5,000 scholarships each. For 2007/2008, new recipients are Kenneth Spicer from Yale High School and Kimberly Thomas from Port Huron Northern High School. Renewal recipients include Jennifer LaMay attending Alma College, Alyssa Weingartz attending MSU, Jason Rogenbuck attending Wayne State University, and Jennifer Thomas attending U of M.
Other scholarships that award large amounts are the Howard A. Acheson Memorial Fund which awarded $17,000 to graduating students throughout the county pursuing a chemistry major or training for a career in an engineering discipline. The Vera Fuller Hansen Educational Trust Fund awarded grants for the first time in 2007/2008. $30,000 in award monies were given to students residing in Algonac, Clay Township, Marine City and Cottrelville Twp.
Applicants must fill out and submit applications offered on the Community Foundation website by March 15th each year. Over 40 committee members on 15 committees review applications and select recipients based on criteria set forth by the fund agreement established when the fund was designated by the donor. The Foundation received over 450 applications for this coming school year.
