North Thurston Education Foundation Awards $153,500 in Scholarships to 38 Students

Lacey, WA – June 8, 2022 – The North Thurston Education Foundation has awarded scholarships with a total value of $153,500 to 38 graduating seniors from North Thurston Public Schools.

 

“We are delighted to award scholarships to 38 of our graduating NTPS seniors. Our selection process was very competitive this year due to the high quality of our student applications. These students, who spent most of their final two years of high school learning online, are articulate, strong, and resilient. It is an honor to support them as they take their next steps in life. We are thankful to our gracious donors who support the North Thurston Education Foundation Scholarship program. Due to their generosity, NTEF offered several newly named scholarships this year. We appreciate the kindness of this community and their support of our students and schools, “ said Beth Utto-Galarneau, Scholarship Chair.

 

Scholarships awarded range from $2,000 to $14,000. The NTEF Scholarship Committee evaluated applications on several factors, including academic achievement, school and community activities, references, quality of the required essay and financial need.

 

The following graduating seniors received this year’s awards:

 

Named Scholarships: The scholarship program includes designated named endowed scholarships and Foundation-funded scholarships.

In 2022, 18 named scholarships were awarded to the following students:

Alex Ward Memorial Scholarship – James Fowler – North Thurston

Bill Williams Memorial Scholarship – Ahna Rader – Timberline

Charles E. Callahan Education Scholarship – Parker Bird – Timberline

Colton Thorstrom Smith Scholarship – Kaelin Green – River Ridge

Lisa Corwin Memorial Scholarship – Destinee Robertson – Timberline

Davies Vocational-Technical Scholarship – Yasmine Avelar – Timberline

Frank Parker Memorial Scholarship – Bebe Simone Hart – Timberline

Friends and Family Scholarship – Kaydence Garcia (Doublerunner) – Timberline

James Koval Memorial Scholarship – Kayla Ackerson – Timberline

Jeannette Hostetter Ford Memorial Scholarship – Benito Dres – Timberline

John Gott Education Scholarship – Andi Trumbel – Timberline

Roy Pedersen Memorial Scholarship – Abigail Joseph – River Ridge

Dr. G. Sue Shannon Scholarship – Zoe Miller – River Ridge

Nicholas T. Walker Scholarship – Nicholas Waltermeyer – Timberline

Ethel & Vaughn F. Philpot Scholarship – Amy Pham – Timberline

Rahman Family Scholarship – Jeffrey Lee – North Thurston High School

Craig A. Shanafelt Scholarship – Taylor Dillon – River Ridge

Lewis R. Hawthorne & Edna C. Hawthorne Scholarships –

 Kaelynn Sharp – North Thurston

 Haley Luken – North Thurston

Prayten Mualia – Timberline

Nathan Ramos – Timberline

Foundation Scholarships: $2500 Foundation Scholarships are awarded annually. In 2022, 17 foundation scholarships were awarded to the following students:

North Thurston High School: Samantha Conner, Autumn Apelar, Vinnie Nguyen

River Ridge High School: Caroline Jenkins, Sarah Mercado, Gabriel Cohen, Alan Ly
Timberline High School: Catherine Ewers, Lindsay Crowe, Lilly Collard, Talia Clark, Olivia, Andino, Maia Ayuso-Robles, Callista Lee, Samantha Sarte, Jordan Waltermeyer, Isabella Wilbur

 

Nineteen of the scholarships are named after individuals in the community and funded by bequests from or donations on behalf of the persons for whom they are named. The remaining scholarships were solely financed by the Foundation’s annual fund-raising and by an unrestricted grant from the Dawkins Charitable Trust. To view a list of scholarship establishment history and details, visit: https://ntef.org/special-named-endowed-scholarships/.

 

Host Homes Program Update

TOGETHER! is excited to announce they are participating in a crowd-funding campaign called Give Local to raise $15,000 for Host Homes. When they meet their goal, someone will take a plunge in a DUNK TANK. The current list of potential dunkees includes TOGETHER! team members Gaby Hyre (Host Homes Director), Meagan Darrow (Executive Director), & Katherine Flynn (Board President), plus County Commissioner Carolina Mejia.

To reach their goal, they need YOUR help. Will you consider becoming a Champion? It’s as easy as 1-2-3:

1. Visit https://spsgives.org/o/community-foundation-of-south-puget-sound/i/give-local-2021/s/together-2021 and click the red button on
the lower right that says “Get Your Personal Share Link.”

2. Receive an email from [email protected] (check junk/spam folders & reach out if you don’t see it). Click the link, set a password, then set your goal ($ amount or number of donors.)

3. Share the campaign with friends via email, text, Facebook, Instagram or any way you like.

When: The campaign runs now – Nov. 19. Wednesdays Nov. 10 & 17 are Giving Bonus Wednesdays, meaning you could win a $100 bonus to donate to a participating organization of your choosing (like Host Homes!)

TOGETHER! Host Homes is a community-based, short-term housing response to help meet the needs of unaccompanied high school students in North Thurston and Tumwater School Districts.

Learn more here.

Save the Date: November 11! MOD Pizza Fundraiser

Save the date — Thursday, November 11th — MOD Pizza is donating 20% of takeout orders to North Thurston Education Foundation! Take a night off from cooking and join us in eating for a great cause. Please click here to register today!

MOD Pizza accepts Takeout, Delivery & Pick up orders made online using the promo code GR202234N or in store mentioning North Thurston Education Foundation. You can RSVP & see all details here: https://grouprai.se/s202234

 

Board Member Profile: Casey Crawford, Principal at Woodland Elementary

1.) How did you first get involved with NTEF?

I first became involved with NTEF as a citizen donor, then as a school principal who saw first-hand the generosity of NTEF and its supporters and the support provided to students in the district.

2.) How do you enjoy spending your free time?

Free Time? Well, I have two teenagers and four pets, so there is not much free time in my life right now!

3.) How do you believe the community can best support the work and mission of NTEF?

I’d say to give! Even small contributions can help. If you hear of a student or family in the district who needs help, reach out to NTEF for support and available resources.

Thank You to Our “Because of You” Donors & Sponsors!

Thank You to the attendees and sponsors for joining us at the 19th Annual “Because of You” Fundraising Luncheon on Friday, October 15. “Because of You!” we raised over $53,000 to support low-income students in the North Thurston Public Schools.

Thanks to your generosity, we have been able to raise our program support from $110,000 in 2015 to a budget this year of $626,000 to provide food, clothing, hygiene products, school supplies, ASB cards, music rentals, tutoring, mental health counseling, and scholarships to name a few.

We could not do this important work for students in North Thurston Public Schools without your support!

*Photo Courtesy Clair Ferris 

SUPPORT OUR MISSION

 

Because of YOU!

“We currently have over 425 homeless youth in our district which includes 95 unaccompanied homeless youth. As you can imagine, there are varying needs for the students we work with; some simply need a warm coat and a good pair of shoes, while others are struggling to keep from losing their housing. North Thurston Education Foundation has been able assist in a wide variety of ways since the start of the new school year. Recently we had a family who has struggled with homelessness for years, and because of the support of NTEF, this single parent of three young children was able to get into stable housing for the first time in over 9 years. She was in tears as she shared how excited she was to finally have a home for her children.

NTEF has also been busy helping with fuel cards for families in our district. We are currently in a bus driver crisis across the country, so it has been difficult to set up school transportation for many of our students who are highly mobile (moving from place to place.) Fortunately, have been able to provide them with fuel cards to help with transporting their children while we work to get a bus set up.

Some additional supports the foundation has been able to assist with were a booster seat for a preschooler whose parent couldn’t afford one so the child was riding is a regular seatbelt, a sports physical for an unaccompanied homeless youth who yearned to participate in a school sport, but couldn’t until a physical exam was completed, purchasing books for another unaccompanied homeless youth who is participating in SPSCC Running Start, and an Uber for a parent who doesn’t have a vehicle to be able to pick their sick child up from school.

These are only a few of the many, many supports that NTEF provides for our students and their families. We are so fortunate to have the amazing partnership with NTEF!”

Signed,
Brenda McAferty
McKinney Vento & Foster Care Liaison
North Thurston Public Schools

In Memory Of

A memorial service to honor previous Board member Ian Edlund will be held on Zoom on September 25, 2021, starting at 1:45 p.m. Unfortunately, due to the low capacity allowed, only the people speaking and performing will be present in the church–The United Churches of Olympia. The service will feature memories from Ian’s life and music, including Bach, played on his own cello.

Zoom link available here: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83652338416

Meeting ID: 836 5233 8416

 

Bill Williams was a long-time, dedicated member and generous supporter of the North Thurston Education Foundation. Throughout his nine years on the board, Bill was integral in expanding the mission and outreach of the foundation. A memorial service for Bill will be held on Saturday, October 23, at 1:00 p.m. at the Koval Center. Contact Mike Jones at [email protected] for additional information.