Eagan Foundation Gives Scholarships to 93 Eagan Students

Editor's Note: The following is a press release from the Eagan Foundation.

The Eagan Foundation will honor 93 graduating high school students from Eagan, with $74,100 in scholarships—the largest annual number and amount awarded in the 21-year history of the Eagan Foundation. This year’s awards also represent another milestone for the Eagan Foundation—it surpassed 1,000 total scholarships awarded totaling $885,000 to area students, thanks to the generous contributions from many local businesses, school organizations, family foundations and nonprofits. The scholarship winners will be honored at a breakfast presentation on Tuesday, May 22 at .

Senior-year students attending Eagan High School or residing in Eagan were eligible for the scholarships administered through the Eagan Foundation’s 2012 Scholarship Program. Twenty-one new scholarships were added for a total of $14,800 more than last year’s offerings. To be eligible, senior students first had to meet two main criteria: 1) live within the City of Eagan or attend Eagan High School, and 2) plan on furthering their education at a technical school, college, or university. Scholarships were then awarded based on a variety of donor-specified criteria such as student financial need or career interest.

 Several, new enhancements or scholarship offerings occurred this year:

• The foundation upgraded to a web-based application form to improve efficiency.
• The foundation itself funded four scholarships: One scholarship for a student pursuing a two-year degree for a skilled trade through a technical or community college (first ever such scholarship); two scholarships for students demonstrating financial need, strong GPAs and community involvement; and another scholarship for a student demonstrating strong community involvement and leadership.
• 11 new scholarships were not dependent on GPA, but were given by donors to recognize talented young people who have persevered through hardships in life (i.e., students who may have experienced a serious illness, death in the immediate family, or other significant setback), and finally
• Former High school students themselves established a new scholarship, the Matt Thuente Memorial Scholarship, by taking up a collection on Facebook and raising almost $3,000 in memory of their school friend, Matt, after he lost his battle with cancer.

“I commend all 93 scholarship recipients who have worked so hard during their school years and represented the values of the Eagan community well,” said Robert Braun, Eagan Foundation board chair. “Being selected by members of their community to receive a scholarship is quite an honor. I’m confident these students will achieve great things and I hope that some will even return one day to give back to the Eagan community.”

“I want to thank the new and long-time donors for their commitment and dedication to our communities’ young people. It’s because of them in 2012 we celebrate awarding our 1,000th scholarship,” said Scholarship Chair Michael Proebstle.  “It’s heartwarming to know there are so many caring people, organizations and businesses that have stepped up to ensure these deserving, graduating seniors get a strong start to their futures. For some students this financial support literally opens doors that otherwise would have been closed to them.  Donors truly make a difference.”  

Proebstle added his Scholarship Committee’s challenge over the next two years is the “Climb 2 One Million.” They will be working toward sustaining $100,000 in awards annually, which would result in the Eagan Foundation surpassing the $1,000,000 mark for the first time in its history.

 2012 Eagan Foundation Scholarship Recipients by School:

Academy of Holy Angels: Bridget Williams;

Burnsville Senior High School: Jonathan Castellanos-Gomez

Convent of the Visitation School: Caitlin David

Eagan High School: Yumna Akhtar, Alexander Anderson, Matthew Anderson, Alyssa Axelrod, Simon Barnicle, Anne Beck, Nicholas Bjorklund, Zachary Block, Kara Bloom, Danielle Branch, Mitchell Chrastil, Keddy Conocchioli, Andrew Cumming, Jeffrey Denmark, Daniel Duerre, Matthew Elert, Hanna Engebretson, Emily Foertsch, Kendyl Folska, Rachel Gagne, Ryan Giguere, Madeline Gore, Soren Hansen, Greta Helmueller, Jason Hughes, Britta Johnson, Megan Juricko, Soden Ka, Andrew Knutson, Morgan Kuehn, Amanda Kuhn, Sarah Linder, Hannah Lukin, Joel Lynch, Joseph Malloy, Alex Mangan, Nathan Martin, Nicholas Mathiason, Rachel Meyer, Rachel Moe, Mackenzie Nelson, Vy Nguyen, Kelly Oestreich, Lauren Olsen, Kunal Patel, Ellen Paulson, Emily Peterson, Lucas Petersen, Kathryn Peterson, Amy Post, Lauren Praska, Michael Rahman, Thomas Rahman, Elizabeth Rohlf, Leah Rolfzen, Lauren Ross, Jessica Rupp, Ellie Schaffer, Elizabeth Schroer, Sarah Schuetz, Connor Schulte, Gina Serantoni, Maryam Sharif-Abdinassir, Shannon Skelly, Brennan Spicer, Colin Sullivan, William Thomas, Tori Thompson, Cameron VanDyke, Brandon Vuong, Cassandra Weinberg, Morgan Wersal, David Wickard, Alissa Wigen, Kelly Williams, Carl Winge, Nicholas Wolff

Eastview High School: Lamisa Chowdhury, Nicholas Hager, Micah Huber, Michael Loher, Lindsey Ryan, Jonathan Wong, Nicholas Wong

Home School: Blake Mayes;

Saint Thomas Academy: Sean Byom, Luke Mallinger and Daniel Sosa

School of Environmental Studies: Glenn Ristow and Zachary Rubenstein.

2012 Scholarship Donors: Adam Bauman Foundation, Anchor Bank Eagan, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, Dakota Electric Association, Deerwood Elementary, Delta Dental of Minnesota, DESK Investments, Inc., Donald and Karen DeGenaro, Eagan Art Festival/Terry B. Davis, Eagan Athletic Association, Eagan Athletic Association-Eagan Wave Soccer, Eagan Citizens’ Crime Prevention Association, Eagan Foundation, Inc., Eagan High School Band Boosters, Eagan High School Boys Lacrosse, Eagan High School Bruce Nelson Strength Training, Eagan High School Dance Team, Eagan High School Faculty and Staff, Eagan High School Football Boosters, Eagan High School Girls’ Basketball Booster Club, Eagan High School Track Boosters, Eagan Hockey Association, Elizabeth A. Larson Memorial, Endersbe Family, Engel Family, Flint Hills Resources Discovery, Friends of Wescott Library, Glacier Hills Elementary Site Council, Gopher Resource, LLC, Kopp Family Foundation, Kristine Gillis Memorial, Lions Club, Matt Thuente Memorial, Minnwest Bank, North Star Youth, Northwestern Mutual Financial Network/The Bohannon Group-Volleyball and Wrestling, Paradigm Foundation/DH Gustafson Family Foundation, Patriots Endowment, Pharmacy/Life Sciences, Pinewood Community School, Proebstle Family, Punch and Associates-Art, Golf and Soccer, Rotary Club of Eagan, State Farm Agents, Suzanne Luse and Associates, and Xcel Energy.