School: Thorp - Herb - Kohl Honors Achievements (Apr 2015)

Contact: Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon
E-mail: dolores@wiclarkcountyhistory.org 

Surnames: Kohl, Niemi, Webster, Marggraf

----Source: Thorp Courier (Thorp, Clark Co., WI) 4/22/2015

Herb Kohl Honors Area Students and Teachers (12 April 2015)

Herb Kohl Honors Area Students and Teachers

A luncheon to honor the achievements of northwest and west central Wisconsin students and teachers was held on Sunday, April 12 at Chippewa Falls Middle School in Chippewa Falls, and was attended by Herb Kohl.

On March 13, the Wisconsin Newspaper Association Foundation and the Herb Kohl Educational Foundation announced the recipients of $3,000 Initiative Scholarships, Excellence Scholarships and Fellowships. The April 12 luncheon recognized the accomplishments of the area’s outstanding students and educators. Eighteen teacher Fellowship recipients, 18 Excellence Scholarship recipients, and 11 initiative Scholarship recipients were honored.

The Chippewa Falls event is one of five regional award programs sponsored by the Herb Kohl Foundation. Local winners of the Excellence Scholars include Bryce Niemi of Owen-Withee High School, and Brooke Webster of Gilman High School.

Kim Marggraf, spokesperson for the Herb Kohl Foundation, said that Herb Kohl, representatives of co-sponsoring organizations (Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, Wisconsin Council of Religious and Independent Schools, Wisconsin Cooperative Educational Service Agencies, and Wisconsin Newspaper Association Foundation), and the families and friends of northwest and west central Wisconsin award recipients were all part of this program.

“The Herb Kohl Educational Foundation believes that it is important to publicly acknowledge and applaud the efforts of Wisconsin’s leading teachers and students. We are very pleased to have had Herb Kohl join us for this special recognition of excellence in education,” Marggraf said.

The Herb Kohl Foundation excellence Scholarship was established by Herb Kohl to provide scholarships to graduating Wisconsin high school students who have demonstrated academic excellence, outstanding leadership, citizenship, community service, integrity, and other special talents. The Herb Kohl Foundation Fellowship rewards Wisconsin teachers who have demonstrated superior ability to inspire love of learning in their students, have motivated others, and have provided meritorious service both inside and outside the classroom.

The Herb Kohl Initiative Scholarship was established to recognize students who have demonstrated a high level of motivation to achieve, have shown strong promise for achieving success in college and beyond, have overcome significant personal obstacles or adversity, and have not yet received other academic based scholarships.

“Herb Kohl made formal award presentations to the recipients at the luncheon,” Marggraf said. The Herb Kohl Foundation will issue the $3,000 Excellence and Initiative Scholarship grants to the postsecondary institution that each student will attend. Each teacher will receive a $3,000 Fellowship and an additional $3,000 grant will be awarded to the teacher’s school for use in innovative educational projects.

The Kohl Educational Foundation Scholarship and Fellowship programs were established by Herb Kohl in 1990. In recognition of the foundation’s 25th anniversary, Herb Kohl has increased awards to each scholar and fellow to $3,000, and $3,000 to each fellow’s school. Previously each award recipient received $1,000. To date, the foundation has provided $9 million to Wisconsin educators, students and schools. The foundation annually awards approximately 180 scholarships and 100 fellowships throughout the state.