The Unit Five Education Association annually awards multiple $1,000 scholarships to current Unit 5 high school seniors, including students pursuing a career in education, the child of a UFEA member, and a student in need of financial assistance who plans to continue their education at a 4-year college, 2-year college, trade school, or in the military.
Phyllis Rosenbaum Scholarships
The Phyllis Rosenbaum Scholarship is awarded to two high school seniors — one at Normal Community and one at Normal West — who will pursue a career in education. This year’s Phyllis Rosenbaum Scholarship winners were Olivia Hartke from NCHS and Kayla Lorance from NCWHS.
Olivia plans to pursue a degree in elementary education. Olivia believes it is important for students to feel valued and heard in the classroom, and that encouraging students to collaborate with one another will help them be able to learn about other students and their different backgrounds. According to one of Olivia’s letters of recommendation, “Her compassion towards others in need and her kindness towards the special needs students […] in our school shows the true nature of her heart.”
Kayla plans to pursue a career as a Speech and Language Pathologist in a school setting and will attend Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Kayla’s goals as an educator include seeing student improvement, having confidence in herself as a teacher, and standing up for the educational system. One of her letters of recommendations stated of Kayla: “Her confidence, self discipline, positive outlook, and ability to balance multiple life roles are admired and will continue to benefit her throughout life. I am hopeful Kayla will return to Unit Five so that I may call her a colleague.”
UFEA Scholarship
The UFEA Scholarship is awarded to the child of a UFEA member who is a high school senior. The 2022 UFEA Scholarship winner is Peter Yehl from NCWHS, child of UFEA member Staci Yehl. Peter plans to attend Iowa State University and study Computer Engineering.
According to one of his letters of recommendation: “One of Mr. Yehl’s greatest strengths is something that cannot be taught, his personality. His approachable personality makes his acceptance of the people and cultures he learns about seem like second nature. His ability to bring an element of friendly-easygoingness creates an air of approachability. Additionally, he puts great pride in working to understand and exceed.”
The Impact Scholarship
The Impact Scholarship is awarded to a Unit 5 senior from either Unit 5 high school, who plans to continue their education after high school at a 2 or 4 year college, in the military or at trade school. This year’s Impact Scholarship winner is Benjamin (Ben) Frey from NCWHS.
Ben plans to attend SIU-Carbondale and major in Biology. One of his letters of recommendation described Ben this way: “Ben is very self-confident, yet extremely humble — a rare combination in anyone, let alone a seventeen-year-old. While Ben is driven to earn high marks, it is his natural curiosity, his willingness to engage in a topic, and his desire to truly learn that make him a model student, an academic leader amongst his peers, and a joy to have in the classroom.”
More about UFEA Scholarships
Applications for UFEA Scholarship are available each spring. Eligible students are encouraged to apply, and applications are scored on a rubric. The UFEA Scholarship Committee, led by the Scholarship Chair, scores the applications and determines the recipients.
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