Spencer school approves scholarship agreement with 3 local schools
As local school districts are focusing more on encouraging students to go into the education field after high school, the school districts of Spencer, Colby, Abbotsford and Owen-Withee are taking steps to provide financial support for students who commit themselves to a career in teaching.
The Spencer School Board approved the Growing Our Own Scholarship 66.0301 agreement at the July 19 regular board meeting. The agreement, which has also been approved by the school districts of Colby, Abbotsford and Owen-Withee, will form a consortium between the districts that will provide scholarships to students that go into teaching and come back to their high school to teach after completing their college courses.
The purpose of the scholarship program, explained District Administrator Mike Endreas, is to provide students more incentive to go into teaching, and to help the school secure future teachers. The agreement is set to begin awarding scholarships to eligible students in the 2024-25 school year. This next year will be spent figuring out the exact criteria that will be required of students at each of the districts in the consortium.
“We need to have a criteria for Spencer students,” said Endreas. “Spencer has their own requirements just like Owen-Withee has their own requirements. There are differences between the schools that we need to consider. For example, we’re offering an education foundations class, but Owen-Withee is not.”
According to the agreement approved by the board, a scholarship will be awarded to one graduating senior in each district that is part of the agreement. The student will receive $3,000 per year their freshmen and sophomore years of college and $5,000 in their junior and senior years.
As part of the scholarship, the student has to make a commitment to teaching for their first five years after college graduation in the district that provided the scholarship. If the position they are qualified for is not available at their native district, they will have to accept a position at a school district that is part of the consortium. According to the agreement, if there is no position available at any of the districts in the consortium, the employment requirement in the scholarship will be waived.
In the event that a student completes their schooling but decides not to follow through on their end of the agreement, the scholarship would have to be paid back in full. A smaller amount would have to be paid back to the district if the student left the district before the end of their five years. According to the agreement, 80 percent would have to be repaid if the student left teaching at the district after one year; 60 percent after two years; 40 percent after three years and 20 percent would be owed if the student left after four years; owning nothing to the district if they complete their five-year teaching term.
The board unanimously approved the agreement at the meeting and will decide in the next few months what criteria will be required of students who apply for the scholarship.
