$101K Awarded
to Taylor Students tcrow@taylorisd.org
Thanks to the
generosity of the Taylor Community, Taylor ISD has awarded fifty-nine local
scholarships totaling $101,000 to sixty-six seniors from Taylor High School and
Legacy Early College High School. The scholarships were presented in a
ceremony
on Tuesday evening in the event center auditorium.
Taylor
counselors noted that for a community the size of Taylor, the number of
families and companies that provide scholarships for local students is
impressive and remarkable.
Retired Taylor
ISD counselor, Naomi Pasemann, believes the number of local scholarships
available for Taylor students says a lot about the community.
“Besides the
monetary amount of the scholarship, students also realize there are community
members who believe in them,” Pasemann said. “Taylor is, and always has been, a
community that cares.”
Four new
scholarships were added this year. The Jaime Zimmerhanzel Memorial Scholarship in
the amount of $3,000 to be awarded each year to a student planning to pursue a career in elementary education. Mrs.
Zimmerhanzel was an elementary teacher at five TISD campuses for over thirty
years.
The Larry Safarik
Outdoor Rec Scholarship in the amount of $500 was added this year in honor of
Coach Safarik’s 50 years in Taylor ISD. It is presented to a graduating senior
who was an outdoor rec student in middle school.
Also new this
year is the Nell Steger Scholarship in the amount of $1,000, and the William
Sorrow Memorial scholarship in the amount of $1,000. Steger is known for her
efforts in forming the Taylor Conservation and Heritage Society, and Sorrow was
a trained archaeologist and historian.
While the
number of scholarships has increased over the years, several have been in
existence for a long time. The Melasky scholarship began in 1956, Gernert in
1961, and the Ruth Schroeder Memorial Scholarship started in 1974.
“Scholarships,
to an extent, have long been a part of TISD,” Pasemann said. “Many of the
memorial scholarships came into existence when I was a counselor as well as
other scholarships. With each memorial scholarship, there is a story.”
Anyone wanting
to contribute to an existing scholarship, or to establish a new scholarship,
should contact Elizabeth De La Cruz at (512) 365-1391.
