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Community pride: $300,000-plus in scholarships given to students
By Paul GoslingMcKinney Courier-Gazette
Friday, May 30, 2008
Alison Flint receives her $1,000 scholarship during Friday night’s McKinney Education Foundation scholarship awards.Megan Millender/McKinney Courier-Gazette
The McKinney Education Foundation Scholarships Awards took place on Friday night at the McKinney Fellowship Bible Church and for McKinney, and the giving never felt so good.
All the scholarships awarded came from the community to send the community’s children off to college.
Scholarships from $500 to $10,000 were awarded to college bound seniors by the McKinney ISD, civic organizations, businesses, memorial trusts and McKinney families and individuals.
MEF director Darrell Slabaugh noted that of the 1,000 seniors who will graduate from McKinney ISD on Friday, 359 competed for the scholarships and 197 would become recipients.
“The competition was keen, and we honor you tonight,” Slabaugh told scholarship award winners.
Requirements for scholarships varied and ranged from class percentile to community service to choice of college enrollment. Slabaugh said that individual trustees could specify the criteria for their award at the inception of trust.
The MEF announced that through the work of Cindy Monogue at McKinney High School, Patricia Williams at McKinney North High School and Ashley Walton at McKinney Boyd High School, the foundation had secured an additional $6,475,537 in outside institutional aid and scholarships for McKinney students.
In a special presentation, Pam Sexton, Lynn Sperry and John Valencia were named the first emeritus trustees of the foundation.
“MEF envisions a future where a passion for learning unleashes the full potential of our community, said,” said Patti Churner, president of the MEF Board of Trustees, “These three MEF community members embody that passion.”
‘Giving back to McKinney” was an often heard phrase as recipients were encouraged to return to McKinney after graduation from college and reinvest in McKinney that others may have the same opportunities they were being granted.
Sperry noted McKinney residents need not be wealthy to establish a trust, as “every little bit helps.”
The scholarship awards evening will be broadcast in the coming weeks on McKinney Education Television.
