Senior Connor Poteet didn’t expect the day to begin this way.
It all started by receiving a letter at a morning assembly. In that moment, Poteet learned that colleges and universities not only want him to attend their school, but are also giving him scholarship offers.
“It is exhilarating!” Poteet said after learning the news. “I am completely blown away by the generous offers.”
Seniors across the district are learning this month that they are earning millions in scholarship offers. The Shawnee Mission Education Foundation has launched a new program, Scholarship Shawnee Mission. The program seeks to bring college and university scholarship offers to Shawnee Mission seniors. Now, Foundation staff and board members are visiting each high school in the district to present more than 1,200 seniors with scholarship offers valued at $737,413,126.
One of the program’s goals is to make navigating the application process easier for students.
“We believe all students should be recruited by colleges and universities without the financial and psychological barriers implicit in the application process,” Kimberly Hinkle, executive director said.
At the annual Fall Breakfast, the Foundation announced the program and presented scholarship offers to two students: Shawnee Mission North Senior, TJ Oni with 27 scholarship offers valued at $1,039,562 and Shawnee Mission West Senior Jetzel Chavira with 23 offers valued at $843,742.
Edward Marquez, program officer for the Foundation, is most excited about the conversations students will have with their parents when they bring home their offer letters.
“We hope to open doors and provide opportunities that maybe our students didn’t know were available or maybe had not thought about in their graduation plan,” Marquez said. “At the core, we support the district’s Strategic Plan objective to prepare our students for college and career.”
The Foundation is hosting three information sessions where students and parents can ask questions and receive additional information about the program. The dates of these sessions and additional information on Scholarship Shawnee Mission can be found here.
Participating College and University Partners:
Avila University
Baker University
Coe College
Columbia College-Columbia, MO.
Donnelly College
Drake University
Emporia State University
Johnson County Community College
Kansas State University
MidAmerica Nazarene University
Missouri State University
Newman University
Northwest Missouri State University
Ottawa University
Rockhurst University
Saint Louis University
University of Arkansas
University of Central Missouri
University of Kansas
University of Missouri-Columbia (MU)
University of Missouri – Kansas City (UMKC)
University of Northern Iowa
University of Oklahoma
University of Saint Mary
Washburn University
Wichita State University
William Jewell College