Student financial aid funds, both annual and endowed,
provide the opportunity for talented future educators to pursue
their chosen career. Without the ongoing help of so many caring
individuals among our dedicated alumni, emeriti, faculty, staff
and friends, many promising teachers would be forced to cut short
their professional preparation when their skills are most needed.
The following represents just a sampling of the outstanding women
and men who have benefited from generous scholarship support and
whose appreciation to the donors is unwavering.
Gary Christiano
- suffered a devasting brain injury, necessitating
that he relearn and redevelop his emotions, behavior and cognitive
skills. He accomplished all this and more by, in his own words,
"courageously and effectively transcending through each
academic and social challenge." He wishes to use all
that he has to become a motivational and creative secondary teacher.
Recipient of "Friends of the Charter College of Education Scholarship"
Alya Jackson
- volunteered with an organization called Prison
Coalition where she tutored and mentored incarcereated youths.
Her impressive community work was recognized with a service award
from the Endowment for Youth. She credits the Charter College
of Education with helping her to become a more well-rounded person
through the active "hands-on" classes that enabled her
to experience teaching her peers as well as children.
Recipient of "Friends of the Charter College of Education Scholarship"
Laura Murphy
- is a Special Education teacher whose goal is
to encourage each student's personal growth and maximum academic
achievement. She is working on her Early Childhood credential to
apply her bilingual and teaching abilities in communities where
they are needed most. Laura has high expectations for herself
and her students.
Recipient of
"Edison International Teachers for Tomorrow Scholarship"
Thea Kokubun-Skogstrom
- a former retail store manager who
changed her career goals because of a deep desire to make a difference
in the community. She volunteered in a second grade classroom,
a nursery school, and worked with seriously emotionally disturbed
adolescents in a group home for boys. "Being a teacher
will allow me to use my creativity and artistic talents, as well
as my knowledge of teaching mathematics, science, social studies,
reading and writing," she says. Thea completed the Multiple
Subject Credential program with a 4.0 GPA.
Recipient of "Friends of the Charter College of Education Scholarship"
Jose Valencia
- immigrated with his family to the United States
from Mexico at 13. It took him nearly three years to grasp English,
but his biggest challenge was resisting pressure from his peers
to quit school and join the local gang. Fortunately a teacher
named Ricardo Lopez took time to mentor him, employing him as
a teacher's assistant. Being the first in his family to graduate
from high school and attend college, Jose is determined to fulfill
his dream of becoming a bilingual elementary teacher. He hopes
that one day he will have a positive influence on a child's life,
just as Mr. Lopez inspired him.
Recipient of "Friends of the Charter College of Education Scholarship"