Gamma Xi Chapter Foundation announce six grant recipients

The Gamma Xi Chapter Foundation for Educational Pursuits is pleased to announce the selection of six recipients for their 2016 recruitment grants. Each recipient will receive $4,750, which will be awarded over her four years of college as long as she remains in education.

The Gamma Xi Chapter Foundation for Educational Pursuits is a 501(c)(3) charity formed by the members of the Gamma Xi Chapter of The Delta Kappa Gamma Society International, which is an honorary educational society for women educators.

This foundation has provided more than $45,000 in monetary support to young women, residing in the Elgin Area School District U-46 and Community Unit District 300 attendance areas, who are on career paths leading to teacher certification. Since its inception in 2010, the foundation has assisted four high school students in reaching their goals of becoming educators.

Monies for these grant opportunities are received from the EFS Foundation, bequests and/or memorials from local donors, and various individual supporters.

Anyone interested in supporting the foundation in its mission of Funding Tomorrow's Educators Today may contact Karen Phillips at gxcf08@gmail.com.

This year's grant recipients are:

• Taylor Edmunds from Streamwood High School, who will be majoring in elementary education and minoring in speech pathology. She has known she wanted to be a teacher since eighth grade when she was working with students in a special needs classroom. As the weeks went by, she realized that while working with these students and seeing them learn and grow, her life was also changed.

• Kelli Kleiser from Hampshire High School, who will be majoring in speech pathology. Kelli wants to "reach out to every student and give the encouragement they need to push them and go beyond the bar set for them."

• Nicole Koerner from Dundee-Crown High School in Carpentersville, who will be majoring in elementary education and minoring in Spanish. Nicole plans to use patience and creativity to fulfill her dream of standing in front of a group of students to teach them lessons that they will take with them for the rest of their lives.

• Jenna Noesen from Bartlett High School, who will be majoring in elementary education and minoring in biology. As a teacher she "hopes to make a difference in students' lives and enable them to maximize their skills, potential, talents, imagination, and character."

• Audrey Schmatz from Dundee-Crown High School, who will be majoring in elementary education and minoring in sports management. Audrey looks forward to becoming a future teacher, helping young children succeed and inspiring others to be the best they can be.

• Branstarr Sihanath from Larkin High School's Visual Arts Academy in Elgin, who will be majoring in art teacher education. She has chosen this major because she enjoys the idea of being surrounded by art and teaching visual arts to others.