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Letters From Previous Scholarship Winners
Letters received in 2013
Class of 2012:
Kelsey
Stummer
I just finished my freshman year at Purdue University, majoring in elementary education and minoring
in French and global studies. I am also in the University Honors Program and made the Dean's List both semesters. I have
become involved in various clubs and organizations including Project Citizen, Colleges Against Cancer, Alpha Lambda Delta
Phi Eta Sigma, the Purdue Student Education Association (PSEA), and will be a College of Education Ambassador starting next
semester.
This May, I spent two weeks studying in India as part of a Maymester study abroad with other education
majors. I absolutely loved my first year, and would like to thank PCRTA again for awarding me one of the scholarships last
year. I really appreciate it, and it has helped me to become this involved and enjoy my first year so much.
Thank
you again, and congratulations to all of this year's winners!
Lauren McBride
Here is just a little bit about what I'm up to now! I went to Cedarville for a semester to major in Special
Education/ Early Childhood Education, but I made the decision to transfer to Kent State University for my second semester
of college. I plan on continuing my undergraduate degree there.
At Kent State, I am majoring in Special Education
with concentrations in Mild-Moderate Math and Reading and Moderate-Intensive Education Needs. I am very excited about this
career path! The classes I have taken so far pertaining to my major have been great. I've learned so much, and after each
class, I am more and more excited to be a Special Education teacher.
Also, I am currently working at a Christian
summer camp called Camp Echoing Hills (located in Warsaw, Ohio) that serves people of all ages with various types of disabilities.
I've volunteered there in the past, and I am beyond blessed to be on staff this summer. In a few short weeks, I have learned
so much about working with all different people with special needs. I know that this experience is going to help me in the
future with teaching Special Education, plus, working at Camp Echoing Hills is an absolute blast!
That's just
a tiny bit of what has been going on with me. Thank you for the letter and getting in touch with me. I appreciate it!
Karlie Lieberth
I finished my first year at The University of Akron and made the Dean's
List both semesters. I ran cross country, indoor, and outdoor track and qualified for the conference championships in the
800 meters for indoor track.
I was admitted into the College of Education at The University of Akron, and plan
to take classes from the department in the fall. I am so grateful for the scholarship that the PCRTA awarded me and it helped
contribute to the successes I had this year. Hopefully I continue to achieve great things in college.
Congrats
to all of the new award winners.
Sarah Briggs
I have finished my first year of college
at the University of Mount Union. I made the Dean's List both semesters and was awarded the full tuition Presidential
Scholarship. I am in the Honors Program and a holding a 4.0 GPA.
I took my first education class last semester
and spent 30 hours observing at Marlboro Elementary in a second grade classroom and loved it. I am planning on majoring in
Early Childhood with the 415 endorsement and double minoring in Intervention Specialist and Music. At Mount I am a member
of the Concert Choir which is Mount's highest academic choir and this past spring we toured around Ohio.
I
am also a member of Kappa Phi a Christian sorority on campus and next year I will be serving as the active chaplain. I will
be leading Bible Study this coming semester for women on campus. I am leading a worship at a new church in Alliance called
Wellspring. It is probably my most exciting and rewarding experience, I helped plant the church and our official launch day
was Easter Sunday. It is an amazing opportunity to grow Spiritually learning more about God and getting into the community
of Alliance, being a light in the darkness I have grown so much over this past year and I am thankful for the wonderful experiences
I have had and the people I have met. I thank God for bringing me through and I look forward to what He has planned next.
Thank you for awarding me with the PCTRA scholarship last year. I very much appreciate it. I
hope everyone
is well and enjoying the summer months.
Class of 2010:
Miranda
Titko
I will be entering my senior year at Kent State University this fall. I am in the Honors College
majoring in Integrated Mathematics with a Mathematics Minor. I am currently employed by Kent State as a certified math tutor
and enjoy every second of it. I have a 4.0 GPA . I am a member of the Kent Student Education Association and have enjoyed
playing intramural softball and soccer.
I will be student teaching this spring at Stow-Munroe Falls High School.
I am excited and cannot wait to begin! Thank you for your interest and support.
Class
of 2008:
Kera Lemaster
I graduated from the University
of Mount Union in May 2012. I was lucky to find a job last fall at Salem Jr.lSr. High School. I am currently a math intervention
instructor. I mainly work with Jr. High students on an online tutoring website called ALEKS. I also tutor and conduct OGT
Prep for high school students.
I enjoyed my first year of teaching and am looking forward to next school year.
Thank you once again for the scholarship money. It was greatly appreciated. I wish the best of luck to this years
winners.
Class of 2009:
Courtney Spellman
I graduated from Kent State University this past spring with a Bachelor of Science degree in Education. My concentration
is in Mathematics. I am certified to teach grades seven through twelve. Recently, I was hired as a mathematics teacher at
Southeast High School. I will be teaching geometry, Algebra 2 and Algebra this fall. I will also be an advisor for their cheerleading
program.
Thank you very much for this association's scholarship program. It is very much appreciated.
Class of 2008:
Kelly Christensen
The past 12 months have been relatively mercurial as my location and occupation have been inconsistent
and somewhat
unpredictable. I' d love to tell you about my endeavors. I graduated with a bachelor's degree in music education
from Bowling Green State University on May 4,2012, finishing in four years. In my senior year, in the fall of 2011, I assisted
in directing three bands and tutoring the students in grades 5-8. My student teaching placement was in Swanton, Ohio during
the spring of 2012. At Swanton Middle School and Swanton High School, I directed four bands, tutored private lessons, and
taught a music history ad theory course. During my summers away from school, I often worked at high school band camps around
Ohio as a woodwind instructor.
Upon graduation, I had earned a distinction from the Honors College at BGSU and
maintained a GPA high enough to receive the honor of magna cum laude. Following graduation, I substitute taught at Rootstown,
Southeast and Ravenna local schools until accepting a clerical position in the Faculty Professional Development Center at
Kent State University in January, 2013. I enjoyed working in that department at Kent State because I would ultimately like
to work and teach in higher education.
Currently, I am preparing to move to Bloomington, Indiana to pursue a graduate
degree in historical musicology. My ultimate career goal is to utilize my background in education, my passion for music, and
my interest in research and writing to become a university professor in the field of musicology. I've been accepted to
study at Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music, which has been recognized for having one of the best musicology
programs in the country. Needless to say, I'm very excited to be attending such a school, and I'm very thankful for
all those who have helped me take these many steps toward my dream.
I'm still grateful for your association's
substantial assistance during my bachelor's degree. I greatly appreciate all the guidance, advice, and support I've
received from countless individuals throughout my life. While I still have quit a few years before earning my doctorate, I
continuously recognize and celebrate the selflessness from which I have thus far benefited and witnesses throughout my schooling
and employment. As I interact and grow alongside colleagues in my field, I actively strive to bear the same amicability which
I see and experience every day; I hope to engender a positive environment so as to encourage fruitful discoveries and effective
pedagogy. I pray your association can continue to help students achieve their dreams. Class of 2007:
Kevin White
In 2011, I graduated from Kent State University with a BA in political science
and history. This past May, I graduated with a MA in political science and for the past two years have worked as a teaching
assistant in the political science department. I am currently looking for work at universities.
Thank you!
Kera Lemaster
I graduated from the University of Mount Union in May 2012. I was lucky to find
a job last fall at Salem Jr./Sr. High School. I am currently a math intervention instructor. I mainly work with Jr. High students
on an online tutoring website called ALEKS. I also tutor and conduct OGT Prep for high school students.
I enjoyed
my first year of teaching and am looking forward to next school year. Thank you once again for the scholarship money. It was
greatly appreciated. I wish the best of luck to this years winners.
Kyle Kalail July 2010 Good evening. My name is Kyle Kalail, and I was a past recipient of one of PCRTA scholarships.
I'm still in college with next year being my senior year. Currently I'm double majoring in Pure and Applied
Mathematics and 7-12 Math Education. If everything goes well, I'll be student teaching in the Spring =).
Over
the past three years, I have been attending Hastings College in Nebraska. It's a liberal arts college, and I have loved
every moment of it.
Now, while I'm still getting a degree in education, I plan to go onto graduate school after
I graduate in May 2011. As of right now, I am considering continuing my education in the field of mathematics, in order to
some day teach college (instead of high school).
So, that's really the run down of how my education is going.
If you have any questions, comments, or anything else, I would love to hear them!
Thanks for checking up on me,
it made my evening.
Thanks again,
Kyle
Kera Lemasters July
2010
Once again thank you all such much for the scholarship I received about
2 years ago. I am now going to enter my third year at Mount Union College (soon to be The University of Mount Union)
as a Middle Childhood Education Major (grades 4-9). My concentrations are in Math and Social Studies, but I'm also
going to get my generalist degree, so I will also be able to teach science and language arts in grades 4-6. I am double
minoring in Math and American Studies. When I first started college, I planned on being a special education teacher,
but decided to change to middle childhood for several reasons the main reason was I was not ready to finish learning math
as crazy as that sounds. I love math, and I feel that it what I will be able to teach best.
I have been very busy at school taking between 16-19 credit hours a semester. I have a cumulative GPA of a 3.97.
This last semester I was involved in five different organizations on campus along with volunteering at Parkway Elementary
School (Alliance) and Alliance Middle School. I tutored middle school students once a week after school for about an
hour and half while I tutored second, third, and fifth graders at Parkway four and half hours a week in math and reading.
I have been involved in Project Inspire since I started college. I served as treasurer
of the organization this year and will serve as treasurer again next semester. This student organization puts on after
school programs for children once a week. My freshman year, we were at Parkway Elementary while last year we were at
Alliance Middle School. Next year, we are going to be working with younger children at the local YMCA.
At the end of my freshman year, I was inducted into Alpha Lambda Delta which is a horary fraternity. I was an active
member this year. We planned the little sibs weekend at the college where college students can bring younger siblings,
cousins, family friends, ect for a fun activity filled weekend. There was pottery, relay games, dinners, crafts, movies,
and much more to do. We also put a team together for Relay for Life.
At the start of my
sophomore year, I joined the Student National Education Association (SNEA). I will be the public relations chair for
next year. Our big projects are putting on pizza parties at Alliance Middle School for honor roll students and putting
on parent night at Inter Faith (a local preschool). We also had a team for Relay for Life.
I will also be public relations chair for the Association of Women Students (AWS) next year. The biggest thing this
organization does is the big, lil sis program which matches incoming students (lil sibs) with a big sis who is a sophomore
or a higher at the college. This helps make the transition into college easier. We also put on Take Back the Night
and sponsor many events on campus. We also sponsor a class and put on an event for them every year. Currently,
we are sponsoring the class of 2021 (1st graders) of Alliance Schools. This spring, we put on a jungle theme party for
them. Also, this year we have been on several diversity panels, trying to help improve the diversity of our campus.
This last semester I joined Alpha Phi Omega which is a service fraternity. We are very
excited to be hosting the sectional conference at Mount Union next spring. This last semester I volunteered more than
fifteen hours with the organization as a pledge in the next year I will be putting in a lot more volunteer hours. It
is the largest organization on campus and was voted Student Senate's Organization of the year. I am glad to be a
part of it.
This summer will mainly be filled with working and riding horses. I
also plan on helping out a few local horse 4-H clubs this summer. I hope everyone at PCRTA is doing well and here's
a short update at my busy schedule.
Thank-you again,
Kera Lemasters Rachel Baughman July
2010
Hello! I was so excited to receive a letter in
the mail from PCRTA and I will most gladly update you all on my status. In the fall, I will be a junior at Marietta College,
majoring in History and Secondary Education and receiving a Teacher Leadership Certificate. I have managed to keep high grades,
getting a 4.0 this semester (3.958 cumulative). I am the Executive Vice-President of my sorority, Sigma Kappa, and the Assistant
Coordinator for a leadership program called EXCEL that welcomes 80 freshmen to Marietta College and the McDonough Center for
Leadership and Business in the beginning of each academic year. I sing in the Women's Choir, work as an instructor at
a local dance school, the Marietta Dance Academy, and serve as a volunteer for the American Red Cross. I am still very excited
for my future career as an educator and my ultimate goal is to work as a corps member for Teach For America. Thank you so
very much for your generosity and support.
Sincerely,
Rachel Baughman Jessica Grabnic July 2010
My name is Jessica Grabnic and I was a recipient of a scholarship from PCRTA in 2007. I
just finished my junior year at Slippery Rock University. I am an elementary education major with minors in middle school
math, elementary school math, and exceptionalities. At Slippery Rock University, I am a member of the Honors Program and I
am involved in many educational organizations such as Kappa Delta Pi, S-PSEA (Student-Pennsylvania State Education Association),
and NSTA (National Science Teachers Association). Next year, I will be finishing my teacher preparation program at Slippery
Rock University; I will complete all my classes in the fall and I will be student teaching in the spring. Once I graduate,
I plan to come back to Ohio to find a teaching position.
Sincerely,
Jessica Grabnic
Courtney Spellman July
2010
My name is Courtney Spellman and I graduated from
Ravenna High School last year. I was a 2009 scholarship recipient. I am currently attending Kent State University
and majoring in Integrated Mathematics. My biggest struggle this year has been trying to decide what subject I would
like to teach. I was first in Integrated Social Studies, but have been seriously considering Integrated Language Arts
and Mathematics. After some thought and the current stage of the job market, I think I will be most satisfied with Integrated
Mathematics. Although, it would make sense to teach middle childhood where I could concentrate on two subject areas,
I believe I will have a more rewarding and challenging experience teaching grades seven through twelve. I have a 3.89 grade point
average after my first semester. I feel very good about that. I will have taken 34 credit hours and am a member
of the Honors College. I took a student instructor training course this spring which will allow me to be a teacher's
assistant in the fall for the First Year Experience Course. I'm excited about this opportunity as it will surely
help me with getting prepared for teaching myself. I will also be able to help with freshmen orientation and the Welcome
Weekend festivities. I would like to find some tutoring opportunities this summer in order to build up my professional
experience with young adults and adolescents. Staying active and busy will be best for me and my professional goals
this summer.
I would like to thank the Portage County Retired Teachers Association again for the $1,000 scholarship last year.
It has tremendously helped lighten my financial burden. This is a wonderful organization that gives back to and cares
for its youth.
Sincerely,
Courtney Spellman Anna Engle July 2010
Hello! I will be a senior at Eastern Mennonite University this fall. I'll
be student-teaching in the fall and graduating in spring 2011.My major is History and Social Science Secondary Education
with a Teaching English as a Second Language minor. I studied in Guatemala and Mexico this past semester and am very excited
to teach ESL after my experiences as a second
language learner!
Thanks,
Anna Engle
Ashley Bault July 2010
I just wanted to respond back to your letter regarding how
things are going for me as a previous recipient of the scholarship. I am just finishing up my sophomore year at Marietta College.
I am majoring in Middle Childhood Education with concentrations in Math and Language Arts. I also am minoring in graphic design.
Through the McDonough Leadership Center, I will be earning a Teacher-Leadership Certificate as well. So far, I have gotten
the opportunity to do field experience at two different schools, Barlow-Vincent Elementary and Washington Elementary. The
kids have been great and I have been learning a lot about the field of education. Hope all is going well for the organization
and it is amazing to see the increased number in scholarships. Thank you again!
Ashley Bault
Elizabeth (Bethey) Herchek July 2010
This is Elizabeth (Bethey) Herchek
and I got your letter asking for the update on where I am in life right now. I am currently a senior at Otterbein College
getting ready to graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in English: Literary Studies. I graduate June 13th and then I will more
than likely be moving home unless I get a teaching job in Columbus. I student taught this year at Dublin Coffman High School
in Dublin Ohio. I taught two classes of freshmen inclusion classes and four classes of juniors honors. It was
the greatest experience of my life and I can't wait to have my own classroom soon. I interviewed at Dublin and I've
interviewed at North Union but as with teaching they aren't trying to fill those positions too fast so I probably won't
hear back for another couple weeks. My ultimate goal is to come home, though, so I'm applying at places near home now
(i.e. Kent, the falls, Canton) and waiting to see what happens. Thank-you to all of you and giving me your scholarship four
years ago. It has helped me get to where I am and I am forever grateful for that. I hope you're having a great year
and hopefully next year I'll be able to report on my very own classroom :)
Thanks for everything and God Bless,
Bethey Herchek
Alyssia Weaver July 2010
I am Alyssia Weaver, a scholarship recipient from 2006. I want to update you about my education.
I am graduating this year from Mount Union College with a Bachelor of Science majoring in Mathematics with Honors and minoring
in adolescence to young adult (grades 7-12) education. I am currently completing my student teaching at GlenOak HS and Oakwood
MS. I am thoroughly enjoying my experience and cannot wait to begin my education profession. I was recently awarded the Ullman
Mathematics prize and the Phi Delta Kappa Secondary Education award for the 2010 graduating class at Mount Union.
Again, I would like to thank you for your generous scholarship that I received in 2006. It has helped me to reach my goal
of touching students lives.
Thanks Again,
Alyssia Weaver
Matt Long July 2010
Matt is still attending Walsh University and pursing a teaching
degree in high school social studies. He will be doing his student teaching in the fall at Perry High School in Massillon.
He will be graduating in December 2010. Matt also competed four years in cross country and track, serving as team captain
this year, competing in the NAIA Championship in the marathon last year. He also hopes to coach these sports in the
future. Thank you for your interest in Matt and for the past financial support. Kathy Long
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