There are both need-based and non-need-based awards available during the 2009–2010 academic year. Scholarship amounts are current best estimates. Scholarship availability and size may change due to fluctuations in endowments.
If you apply for a need-based award, your financial record in the ISU Financial Aid Office will be checked. To be eligible for consideration for financial aid at Illinois State University, you must have completed the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) for the current year.
(2 awards, $1,000 each or 1 award, $2,000) Candidates should be either incoming freshmen or current Illinois State University students that graduated from Warrensburg-Latham High School. They should be majoring in elementary education, demonstrate academic accomplishment, and have financial need.
Pyrle Gale Barclay Endowed Scholarship was established in her honor by members of her family to recognize her achievements as an elementary school teacher and to encourage others to strive to achieve a similar love for learning. Born in DeWitt County, Mrs. Barclay was a teacher for 37 years, 28 of those in Warrensburg. She earned degrees from Illinois State University and the University of Illinois. Following her retirement, she became the librarian of the Warrensburg Public Library, which after her death was renamed the Barclay Public Library. All four of her sons are graduates of Illinois State University. Mrs. Barclay was a lifetime member of the Illinois Congress of Parents and Teachers and was named Illinois Rural Teacher of the Year in 1955.
Essay: Please describe your desire to become a teacher and plan for your teaching career. Please limit your response to 250 words.
(1 award, $500) Candidates must be females who are enrolled in teacher education, are in good academic standing, will be student teaching when they receive the award, and have demonstrated financial need.
Adeline Stevenson Nurse made a bequest through her will to Illinois State University. The endowment fund is to be held in perpetuity and the income used for the education of students majoring in education.
Essay: Please describe your desire to become a teacher and plan for your teaching career. Please limit your response to 250 words.
(2 awards, $1,500 each) Candidates must be seniors majoring in early childhood or elementary education. They must plan to teach reading in the primary grades, hold a 3.2 GPA on a 4.0 scale, and demonstrate financial need. They should be able to describe their motivation to teach reading in primary grades.
This scholarship was established by Mrs. Miko to provide financial support for outstanding students preparing to become teachers of reading for the primary grades. Mrs. Miko earned a teaching certificate in 1938 and a bachelor's degree in education in 1963, both from Illinois State Normal University. A highlight of her distinguished career happened in 1968, when she was named one of the nation's outstanding early education teachers by Grade Teacher, trade magazine. In 2002, she was inducted into the Illinois State University Hall of Fame.
Essay: Please describe your desire and motivation to teach reading in the primary grades. Your essay should be 250 words long.
(1 award, $750) Candidates must be female freshmen or transfer students, who were born in Illinois, are majoring in elementary education, and can demonstrate financial need. In an essay, candidates must describe their motivation to teach in the elementary grades. The scholarship will be used to support educational expenses (tuition/fees/books). Special consideration will be given to a member of the Kelly-Brown family should that student be a qualified candidate. The scholarship is renewable through graduation.
The award was established in 2003 by Clint Kelly to honor his wife, Evelyn (Sue) Kelly, who had a remarkable and committed teaching career in the primary grades. Clint and Sue were both Illinois State Normal University graduates, in 1935 and 1936, and together they devoted a total of 64 years to teaching and education in Illinois and Indiana. Clint was inducted into the College of Education Hall of Fame in 2004 at the age of 89.
Essay: Please describe your desire and motivation to teach in the primary grades. Your essay should be 250 words long.
(1 award, $1,000) Candidates should either be incoming freshmen or an upperclassmen in good academic standing and majoring in one of the programs in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction. Freshmen should have a cumulative high school grade point of 3.8 or higher and scored at least 28 on the ACT. Other students need a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.2 on a 4.0 scale. Applicants who leave successful careers to enter the university to pursue teaching careers will be given special consideration. In the event that multiple applicants are equally qualified, special preference will be given to students from Crete, Streator, Danville, or California.
This scholarship was established by Nan Schuman Klein to provide support to students who have the passion to become teachers. Klein graduated from Illinois State University in 1973, with her bachelor's degree in education. As an ISU student she was included in the initial group that participated in the CORE program, which included student teaching for 18 weeks, doing community service, and taking classes simultaneously. Klein taught in Illinois for more than four years, and later moved to California where she became a human resources executive and subsequently formed her own HR consulting firm, mentoring executives and systems specialists on both the requirements and capabilities of technological solutions to HR issues. Nan has a special regard for people who come into teaching having been in a previous career.
Essay: Please describe your passion and commitment to becoming a teacher. Please limit your response to 250 words.
(1 award, $400) Candidates must be elementary education majors and recommended for the award by a pre-student teaching supervisor for reading and/or language arts, when possible. Candidates also must have a 3.0 grade point average.
The Lillian Scholljegerdes Davies Scholarship was established by colleagues and family of Lillian as a living memorial in her honor. Mrs. Davies was a retired Illinois State faculty member and academic advisor, who had received her bachelor's degree from Mankato State College, and her master's and doctorate degrees from the University of Minnesota.
Essay: Please describe your desire to become a teacher and plan for your teaching career. Please limit your response to 250 words.
(2 awards, $750 each) Candidates must be undergraduates at the junior or senior level, majoring in elementary education. They also must have a grade point average of at least 3.0 and demonstrate, in writing, their commitment to a career in elementary education.
Louise Purnell Jones was born in Mahomet, Ill., and received her bachelor's degree in education at Illinois State Normal University in 1940. She taught elementary school in Mahomet before moving to Chicago to be administrator of the Chicago Temple, the first Methodist Church of Chicago. She passed away in June of 2001.
Essay: Please describe your desire and commitment to a career in elementary education. Your essay should be 250 words long.
(1 award, $500) Candidates must be entering their senior year of the Middle Level Education program. Preference will be given to students with a demonstrated interest in multicultural issues.
This fund was established in 2000 by the ISU student branch of the Collegiate Middle Level Association to honor Dr. Mungo as he retired from the faculty of Illinois State University, having served as professor of Education from 1968–2000, and having taught at both the public school and university level for 40 years. Among Dr. Mungo's many awards and recognitions for his teaching career were two Outstanding College of Education Teacher Awards in 1973 and again in 1983, and being the first recipient of the David Strand ISU Diversity Achievement Award in 1994. An advocate for understanding and working with diverse student populations, he has held numerous leadership positions statewide and nationally, and has been a national speaker and consultant on diverse student issues.
Essay: Please describe your interest in teaching at the middle level, and your involvement with multicultural issues. Your essay should be 250 words long.
(1 award, $1,000) Candidates must be early childhood majors in good standing, having attained junior status or having at least one semester remaining when the scholarship is awarded. They must have a GPA of at least 3.0 on a 4.0 scale and a written reference from a faculty member who verifies the student's potential as an early childhood educator.
The Janet Weldon Noah Memorial Scholarship was established in 2005 by James E. Noah in memory and honor of his wife, Janet, who graduated from Illinois State Normal University in 1952. James is also an ISNU graduate. Janet loved teaching, especially kindergarten, and had been recognized by her colleagues and administrators as the Union (California) School District's Outstanding Teacher, and received the Santa Clara County Teacher Recognition Award, both in 1990.
Essay: Please describe your desire to become a teacher and plan for your teaching career. Please limit your response to 250 words.
(3 awards, $1,000 each) All early childhood, elementary, and middle level majors who have attained junior status and have an established Illinois State University GPA are eligible to apply for this scholarship. Recipients will be selected based upon their academic performance, professional attitude, and commitment to teaching, which are all qualities that should ensure probable success for developing into highly successful classroom teachers.
Essay: Please describe your desire to become a teacher and plan for your teaching career. Please limit your response to 250 words.
(2 awards, $750 each) All graduates admitted to a graduate program in the department of Curriculum and Instruction who have completed 12 Illinois State University hours of graduate instruction are eligible for consideration.
Essay: Please describe your desire to become a teacher and plan for your teaching career. Please limit your response to 250 words.
(1 award, $500) Candidates should be entering the senior year of the Middle Level Teacher Education program and plan on teaching language arts in a middle school. All other qualifications being equal, preference will be given to a student who has at least one parent who is a teacher.
This scholarship was established in 2006 by Charlotte Corray Kinkade, who graduated from Illinois State Normal University in 1961 with a bachelor's degree in education. She also earned a master's degree in education from the University of Illinois in 1965. Mrs. Kinkade's teaching career spanned 32 years, beginning in Bensenville, Ill., and then in Bloomington-Normal. Her final 24 years were spent at Chiddix Junior High School in Normal, where she taught social studies and language arts for the first four years, and then all language arts for 20 years. Language arts included the content areas of literature, composition, grammar, listening, and spelling. She established this scholarship to provide support for students who plan to become teachers of language arts in middle schools.
Essay: Please describe your desire to teach language arts at the middle school level, and if one of your parents has been a teacher, describe that parent's influence upon you. Your essay should be 250 words long.
(1 award, $1,000) Candidates must be enrolled in the Master's of Science in Education degree program with a concentration in Reading. They should have a minimum of five years of full-time teaching experience, and have successfully completed at least two required courses in the Reading sequence of the Master's of Science in Education program. One reference from a faculty member or other individual familiar with the graduate student's commitment to reading education needs to be submitted.
This scholarship was established in 2007 by a gift from an anonymous donor. Its purpose is to provide financial support for the cost of tuition for graduate students pursuing the Master's of Science in Education degree with a concentration in Reading.
Essay: Please discuss your commitment to teaching reading. Please limit your response to 250 words.