2016-2017 SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS ANNOUNCED

Contact Information:              FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Marc R. Levy, Executive Director

Questa Education Foundation

mlevy@questafoundation.org

260-407-6494

Questa Education Foundation Awards Scholarships to Students

Fort Wayne, IN, September 20, 2016 – Questa Education Foundation continues to support students in northeast Indiana by administering several scholarships.  Our core programs provide low-interest forgivable loans to both traditional and returning adult scholars.  If you are considering further education including: industry certification, associate and bachelor degrees, or are thinking of returning to complete an education, check out our website listed below. 

We are proud to announce the following scholarship recipients for the upcoming school year:

The Edward C Dodez Scholarship assists Indiana students who are attending Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. These students must reside in Indiana, show academic achievement and financial need.  This year, three students have received $5,000 to assist in the cost of their education at Dartmouth.  We would like to congratulate the following students:

Bailey Miller, Allen County, studying Mathematics and Computer Sciences

Allison Green, Tippecanoe County, studying Psychology

Ethan Cook, Kosciusko County, studying Biological Sciences

The Walter & Lucile Beckman Scholarship is awarded annually to college students who are majoring in Education or Social Services, maintaining a 3.0 GPA, and be a current Questa Scholar.  We are pleased to announce the awardees of the $1,500 Beckman scholarship:

Jennifer Slabaugh, Kosciusko County, attending Indiana Wesleyan, studying Elementary Education

Lora Gould, Allen County, attending University of Saint Francis, studying Elementary and Special Education

Emily Bender, DeKalb County, attending Indiana Wesleyan, studying Human Services

Questa Education Foundation is a local non-profit serving northeast Indiana and is dedicated to increasing access to education beyond high school, completion with reduced debt and retention of talent in our local communities.  If your community or organization is interested in helping your local scholars contact us!  Questa Education Foundation www.questafoundation.org

Allen County Questa Scholars Receive Scholarships for Academic Achievement

Allen County Questa Scholars Receive Scholarships for Academic Achievement

Questa Education Foundation recently awarded $109,000 through the Venette M and Mabel M Sites Scholarship to 75 Allen County public high school graduates who have excelled in their academic performance by maintaining at least a 3.0 GPA during 2015-2016. This number reflects 20 more scholar awards than last year.  We are proud to announce and reward the following students: 

Seniors: Lydia Neff – Trine; Hannah Quade - IPFW; Jacob Roop – University of Indianapolis; Eryka Brandenberger-Kraner – IPFW; Jasmyn Kalsto – Univ. St. Francis; Emma Roy – IPFW; Kelly Piepenbrink – Huntington Univ; Anderson Smith – Purdue; Andrew Ceckowski – Purdue; Kaleigh Ensley – IU; Christian Nitz – Purdue; Nicholas Schwartz – Valparaiso; Megan Grothaus – IPFW; Grant Bremer – IU; Erika Leininger – IPFW; Katrina Bard – Univ. St. Francis; Clarissa Geiger – Purdue; Chad Whitman – Ball State; Austin Feipel – Purdue; Karlee Parker – Manchester; Mitchell Olney – IPFW; Keegan Holle - IU 

Juniors:  Sabrina Medert – IPFW; Spencer Faull – Trine; Kaitelyn Vachon – Univ. St. Francis; Hannah Cook – Indiana Wesleyan; Nicole Thompson – Ball State; Brayten Carpenter – Indiana Wesleyan; Michael Mast – Indiana Tech; Julianna Davis – Indiana Wesleyan; Joachima Hoot – IPFW; Mackenzie Lawson – Univ. St. Francis; Angela Lahr – Indiana Wesleyan; Miranda Vance – Ivy Tech; Ellie Gaskill – Indiana State; Jessica Moeller – Univ. St. Francis; Heather Richardson – Trine; Mackenzie Petre – Univ. St. Francis; Sierra Miranda – IPFW; Angel Windom – IUPUI; Jami Minick – Huntington; Kathryn Bixby – IU; Rachel Witte – IPFW; Tori Bontrager – Grace College; Madison Yenser – Manchester; Christopher Kindlesparger – Univ. of St. Francis; Samuel Stratton – IU; Kaelly Collins - IU

Sophomores: Adam Hoffer – Univ. of St. Francis; Sydney Ulrey – IU; Joshua Mahon – University of Indianapolis; Rebekah Dignal – Univ. of St. Francis; Zachary Watson – Rose Hulman; Mariah Thomas – IU; Rebecca Kimball – Indiana Wesleyan; Alyssa Garver – Univ. of St. Francis; Connor Burgess – Univ. of St. Francis; Matthew Mast – IUPUI; Chase Myers – Univ. of St. Francis; Logan Ankney – Univ. of St. Francis; Anthony Ohneck – IUPUI; Heidi Schneemann – Taylor; Jennifer Peppler – Trine; Jordan Eldridge – Indiana State; Kelsiey Cicora – Univ. of St. Francis; Branson Dossen – Indiana Tech; Logan Jester – Butler; Miranda Walls – IPFW; Jillian Findlay – Indiana Wesleyan; Rebecca Lessig – Indiana Wesleyan; Katherine Sheppard – IU; Hannah Fowerbaugh – Univ. of St. Francis; Madison Peterson – IPFW; Jailyn Krantz – Indiana Wesleyan; Sarah Moloney – Huntington; Matthew Mensing – Indiana Tech.

The Sites scholarship plus the Questa Scholars Program is assisting college students in completing post-secondary education, graduating with less debt and retention of talent in northeast Indiana.  Please visit our website at www.questafoundation.org for program and scholarship information. 

Questa Traditional Scholars Chosen for 2016-2017 School Year

Contact Information:                                  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Marc R. Levy, Executive Director

Questa Foundation for Education

mlevy@questafoundation.org

260-407-6494

The Questa Education Foundation is proud to announce the 2016-2017 Questa Scholars who will receive financial support for their college educations. This year was another record-setting year with almost 350 completed applications from all over our eleven county region in Northeast Indiana.  Thanks to our collaborative programming with communities, seventy Traditional Scholars have been awarded low-interest forgivable loans in the first phase of our award year.  Contemporary Scholars have yet to be chosen.

The intent of this funding is to help increase access and completion of a post-secondary education with reduced debt and to retain talent in Northeast Indiana. Questa Scholars get a commitment and assurance of funding for up to four years of college at an accredited school.  Scholars are chosen via a multi-level assessment process based on not only grade point average, but also community involvement and an essay explaining how they plan to contribute to the economy of Northeast Indiana as a Questa graduate.

This year we are proud to announce that Adams County has joined Questa, along with other communities, and as a result four of our funded scholars are from Adams County.  Questa continues to seek new and innovative partnerships to increase our number of scholars.

The following are the new Questa Scholars and where they will attend college:

Anderson University:  Mary Greuter, Heather Stichter

Ball State University:  Kendra Shadle, Rachel DePew

Bethel College:  Sidney Sprunger, Loren Hahn

Grace College:  Ashley Osborn, Jacob Scheele, Rebekah Zvers, Ian Kissell, Taylor Fouts, Andrea Ledgerwood

Holy Cross:  Maria Barrera

Huntington University:  Karley Hockemeyer, Tori Dan, Kari Riehle, Alexandra Tinsley, Carly Snyder

Indiana State:  Alyssa Grothaus

Indiana Tech:  Zachary Davis, Giselle Miller, Blake Davis, Kirsten Wolf

IPFW:  Ashten Worth, Caleb DeLieto, Cassidy Forbing, Trever Kraner, Rylee Marks, Erin Olinger, Soe San, Paige Stutzman, Ian Thompson, Nicole Winans, Dalton Adams, Garett Chrisman, William Stayner

IU Bloomington:  Alexys Copeland, Tori Eastes, Gabriela Reina, Terry Randol

IU South Bend:  Andrew Aguilar

IUPUI:  Scott Creech, Courtney McGrew

Ivy Tech Northeast:  Bailey Thompson

Indiana Wesleyan:  Kimberlie Kline, Kyle Pessefall, Laci Vickery, Bryce Daniels

Manchester University:  Sarah Shoemaker, Ethan Zhou

Purdue W Lafayette:  John Crook, Joshua Hiatt, Leah Schroeder

Rose Hulman Institute:  Bailey Sheldon, Gavin LaRue

Saint Mary’s College:  YeYe Tin

Taylor University:  Danielle Straits

Trine University:  Janaya Wilder, Stone Miguel, Morgan Sanderson, Jarod Davis, Logan Gonya, Heather Fritz

University of Indianapolis:  Emily Koehlinger

University of Southern Indiana:  Alexandra Harvey

University of St. Francis:  Juan Gonzalez Rangel, Isabelle Harrison, Sara Livengood

Valparaiso University:  Emily Hughes, Anna Bulmahn

QUESTA EDUCATION FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES MAY 2016 QUESTA SCHOLAR GRADUATES

Marc R. Levy, Executive Director

Questa Foundation for Education

mlevy@questafoundation.org

260-407-6494

Questa Education Foundation is proud to announce that this year there were a total of 33 individuals who have graduated in May 2016 from colleges and Universities across the state of Indiana. 26 of those graduating were Traditional Scholars who went on to college from high school while 7 were participating in the Contemporary Scholars program focused upon returning students who had delayed their education.   Questa Education Foundation is a local non-profit serving northeast Indiana and is dedicated to increasing access to education beyond high school, reducing college debt and retention of talent.

Questa Education Foundation would like to congratulate the Spring 2016 college graduates:

Butler University: Allison Kanning

Grace College: Megan Donley, Cari O’Hara, Grace Woolsey

Huntington University: Catherine DePew, Amy Hetrick, Alyssa Plisco

Indiana Tech: Jacob Stafford

Indiana University: MaryFrances Easterday, Benjamin Fox, Lynsi Hicks

Indiana Wesleyan: Nicole Biggs, Abigail Hall, Kacie Kirk, Heidi Kolberg, Brittany Sork, Leah Sponseller

IPFW: Mahmuda Arman, Kaleb Krempel, Lori Lupica, Emily Mastelou-Page, Kimberly Taylor

Purdue University: Rachel Crouch, Noah Rider, Lauren Smith, Allison Strickler

St. Mary’s: Madeline Harris

Trine University: Kali Chenoweth, Wade Hantz, Brok Sailor, Jonathan Tinkey

University of St. Francis:  Brooke Conrad, Abby Evard, Kelli Kruckeberg, Nicole Satalino

The scholars received low-interest forgivable loans that allowed them to complete their degree with less debt.  The scholars will receive 50% in loan forgiveness from Questa by living and working in northeast Indiana for the next 5 years following their graduation. An additional 25% of the total loan is paid back by attending and graduating from one of the eight partner regional institutions- Indiana Tech, Ivy Tech, IPFW, University of St. Francis, Huntington University, Grace College, Manchester University, Trine University , and previously - Indiana Wesleyan.  Funding for Questa Scholars comes from local and regional foundations, businesses and organizations.  Local support is essential for helping increase the access to continued education and preparation for employment in our communities. For more information, you can go to the website www.questafoundation.org or call us at 260-407-6494. 

Brooks-Questa Scholars: A New Partnership Transforms Landscape of Construction Trades Workforce

Contact Information:                                                                                      FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Marc R. Levy, Executive Director

Questa Foundation for Education

mlevy@questafoundation.org

260-407-6494

Brooks-Questa Scholars:  A New Partnership Transforms Landscape of Construction Trades Workforce

Questa Education Foundation and Brooks Construction have formalized a partnership that will provide funding to scholars who wish to further their education beyond high school in areas of education that will prepare them for employment in the construction industry, specifically:  heavy highway and site development concentrations.

Questa Education Foundation and Brooks Construction are pleased to announce the 1st recipient of the new partnership:  Logan Gonya – a graduate of Angola High School who will be attending Trine University studying Civil Engineering. 

John Brooks, Owner of Brooks Construction, says:  “We are excited to begin this new partnership with Questa and Logan.  Our employees saw a need to invest in our future, and they have led the effort to seek talented young people that we as a company can support.  We all realize the importance of attracting and retaining talent.  This initiative benefits our employees, our company, the student, our industry and the community.  We wish Logan success in his studies.”

Marc Levy, Executive Director of Questa says:  “This alliance will provide funding to assist qualified students who wish to further their education in these construction related areas and Brooks has pledged to provide internships and practical experience that can complement the student’s education.  Together we are literally transforming the human “landscape” of the workforce by investing in human “capital” that will benefit the work force of the 21st Century in northeast Indiana.  We encourage others to join us in investing in the people in our community.”

Over the years Brooks Construction has been a strong employer in our region.  Recently, the number of graduates who have studied “horizontal” construction (roads, highways, bridges) has decreased and many existing workers in this area are coming upon retirement age.  It is the mutual desire of both organizations to provide funding that would address both the financial gap and be supportive of a post-secondary education in this specific field.

Students who will be eligible for this program will be a high school graduating senior or college freshman from northeast Indiana who has applied for and met all the criterion of the program. 

The Brooks-Questa Scholars will have the same qualifiers as other Questa programs upon graduation and in addition will have the opportunity for a paid internship that can further reduce their final debt.

Questa Foundation is committed to assisting individuals to pursue further education in the form of industry certification as well as associate and bachelor degrees by offering low-interest forgivable loans for students pursuing a certificate, associate, or bachelor degree from an Indiana college or university.  The program offers a unique way for a student to fund the financial “gap” in the cost of attendance.  Questa Education Foundation forgives 50% of the scholars loan balance when the scholar lives and works in northeast Indiana for five years after graduation.  Students who choose to attend and graduate from one of Questa’s eight regional partner schools will receive an additional 25% forgiveness at graduation.  The Questa Scholars Program allows a student to borrow up to $20,000 and when meeting the qualifying criteria receive the maximum 75% forgiveness, making the remaining balance only $5,000 for the scholar to repay.  The forgiveness feature combined with the low fixed interest rate after graduation makes the program an unbeatable loan option for students and families.

Information and materials relevant to this program will be available on our website:  www.questafoundation.org and will be made available in print form for distribution by guidance counselors at high schools and colleges and at community and school events.

For more information about this innovative and exciting program please visit our website listed above or call 260-407-6494.