Jean Seagly Crouse Memorial Scholarship Fund

Jean was an advocate for education, teaching for Westview School Corporation for 25 years. She had a passion for children and taught fifth grade at Topeka Elementary, retiring in 1988.

Jean was deeply rooted in Topeka, serving as a member of the Topeka United Methodist Church since 1950 and the United Methodist Women of the church, holding many offices and positions in both. She was a homemaker, Sunday school teacher, and Girl Scout leader. Jean received the Thanks Award for her 10 years of service in Scouting.

She enjoyed history and education, serving as a member of the Topeka Area Historical Society as Vice President. It was clear Jean had a passion for education and community.

The Jean Seagly Crouse Memorial Scholarship Fund will support a LaGrange County high school senior pursuing a degree in education. The scholarship fund will begin to accept applications in the fall of 2023.

Five LaGrange County high school seniors have been named finalists for the 2022 Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship. The prestigious award goes to an outstanding high school senior in LaGrange County. The 2022 Lilly Endowment Community Scholar will be awarded a full-tuition scholarship including a $900 book stipend per year, for four years to any accredited college or university in Indiana.

Finalists for the award are Lillian Eash of Westview High School, daughter of Cory and Vanessa Eash; Kaylyn Gates of Westview High School, daughter of Marty and Lora Gates; Jackson Minix of Westview High School, son of Douglas and Mary Minix; Isaac Rogers of Westview High School, son of Jeremiah and Elizabeth Rogers, and Lillian Schackow of Lakeland High School, daughter of Jason and Elisa Schackow.

The scholarship is awarded to a well-rounded LaGrange County graduating senior who exemplifies service and leadership in their community, while maintaining a commitment to academics.

The scholarship program is offered each year by the LaGrange County Community Foundation, and other Indiana community foundations across the state to help raise the level of educational attainment in Indiana; to increase awareness of the beneficial roles Indiana community foundations can play in their communities; and to encourage and support the efforts of current and past Lilly Endowment Community Scholars to engage with each other and with Indiana business, governmental, educational, nonprofit and civic leaders to improve the quality of life in Indiana generally and in local communities throughout the state.

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After a competitive application process that evaluates academics, community and school activities, leadership, and written essays, the finalists are interviewed by the Foundation’s Lilly Scholarship Advisory Committee. The results of the interview round are combined with the application round to determine the 2022 nominees who will be submitted to Independent Colleges of Indiana for final selection of the LaGrange County recipient.

Announcement of the recipient will be made in mid-December. The four remaining finalists will each receive a $1,000 renewable four-year scholarship from the Lambright Leadership Scholarship Fund, established by Kevin and Carrie Lambright in 2013.

To help students with the cost of tuition, donate to a local school’s scholarship fund.

LaGrange County’s 2022 Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship application opens on July 31.  The Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Program (LECSP) will provide 143 scholarships statewide and one (1) scholarship in LaGrange County.  

LECSP scholarships may be used for otherwise unreimbursed full tuition, required fees, and a special allocation of up to $900 per year.  The special allocation may cover the costs for required books and required equipment for four years of undergraduate study on a full-time basis leading to a baccalaureate degree at any eligible Indiana public or private nonprofit college or university.

The program, administered statewide by Independent Colleges of Indiana (ICI) and locally in LaGrange County through the LaGrange County Community Foundation, is open to all Indiana residents who:

• graduate from an accredited Indiana high school by 2022 and receive their diploma no later than June 30, 2022;
• intend to pursue a full-time baccalaureate course of study at an eligible college or university in Indiana; and
• meet the criteria specific to their local community foundation.  Students applying in LaGrange County must have a minimum grade point average of 3.0; be a LaGrange County resident; and be graduate from a LaGrange County high school.

Students can learn more about the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship in LaGrange County and apply for this scholarship by visiting www.lccf.net/lillyscholarship. Applications must be completed and submitted by Sept. 15, 2021, at 5 p.m. to be considered.

Applications will be evaluated on, but not limited to, the following criteria:

• academic achievement
• demonstrated service to others
• leadership ability
• commitment and motivation to succeed
• employment history
• extracurricular involvement and essay responses

Two recommendations must also be submitted with the application. A personal interview will assist in determining the scholarship recipient.

Five students will be selected as finalists and be interviewed in October 2021.  Following the interviews, the LaGrange County Community Foundation will nominate one local graduating senior for the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship; their name will be submitted to ICI for final approval. The scholarship recipient will be announced in December.

The finalists not selected for the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship will receive a $1,000 four-year renewable scholarship from the Lambright Leadership Fund established by Kevin and Carrie Lambright.

Lilly Endowment created LECSP for the 1997 – 1998 school year and has supported the program every year since with tuition grants totaling more than $424 million. Nearly 5,000 Indiana students have received Lilly Endowment Community Scholarships since the program’s inception.

The primary purposes of LECSP are

1. to help raise the level of educational attainment in Indiana;
2. to increase awareness of the beneficial roles Indiana community foundations can play in their communities; and
3. to encourage and support the efforts of current and past Lilly Endowment Community Scholars to engage with each other and with Indiana business, governmental, educational, nonprofit and civic leaders to improve the quality of life in Indiana generally and in local communities throughout the state.

LaGrange County Community Foundation is again pleased to offer LECSP for its 25th year in LaGrange County.    

We are grateful to be able to offer the LECSP Scholarship to our local students. It opens opportunities for the recipient to attend a school that otherwise might not have been possible. LaGrange County is home to exceptional student scholars who are committed, caring community members. We look forward to recognizing the hearts and minds of our community’s talented young people.

Octavia Yoder, executive director

Lilly Endowment Inc. is an Indianapolis-based, private philanthropic foundation created in 1937 by J.K. Lilly Sr. and his sons Eli and J.K. Jr. through gifts of stock in their pharmaceutical business, Eli Lilly and Company. Although the gifts of stock remain a financial bedrock of the Endowment, it is a separate entity from the company, with a distinct governing board, staff and location. In keeping with the founders’ wishes, the Endowment supports the causes of community development, education and religion. The Endowment funds significant programs throughout the United States, especially in the field of religion. However, it maintains a special commitment to its founders’ hometown, Indianapolis, and home state, Indiana.

Since 1997, Independent Colleges of Indiana has administered the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Program statewide with funding provided by Lilly Endowment Inc. Founded in 1948, ICI serves as the collective voice for the state’s 30 private, nonprofit colleges and universities. ICI institutions employ over 22,000 Hoosiers and generate a total local economic impact of over $5 billion annually. Students at ICI colleges have Indiana’s highest four-year, on-time graduation rates, and ICI institutions produce 30 percent of Indiana’s bachelor’s degrees while enrolling 20 percent of its undergraduates. 

Barbara Fanning, Paul Hostetler, and other donors established the Ellsworth Fanning Memorial Scholarship in October of 1996.

Ellsworth was a lifelong LaGrange County resident. He attended Brighton High School and earned a degree in agronomy at Purdue University. He taught agriculture at Shipshewana High School.

In 1960, Ellsworth, Ed Swartzendruber and Dick Leckler started Edd’s Supplies, Inc., in Shipshewana.

You must have the right to fail to retain the right to succeed.

Ellsworth Fanning

The scholarship was established to encourage higher education in agriculture and agri-business. Over the course of 24 years, the fund has provided 36 scholarships to help students pursuing their agricultural goals.

To contribute to Ellsworth’s passion for agriculture Click here.

We love to surprise our Lilly Endowment Scholarship recipients! This year was especially sweet after such a challenging and tough year. A little good news goes a long way towards lifting everyone’s spirits!

We traveled to Westview Jr Sr High School to make the surprise announcement to Mary Hostetler.

Mary Hostetler is the daughter of Douglas and Delores (Dee) Hostetler of Topeka. They were all happy to join in the surprise announcement! She was overwhelmed with emotion when she found out that she was named the 2021 Lilly Endowment Scholar.

Mary plans to attend Huntington University in the fall of 2021 where she plans to study animal science. Her decision to pursue a career in animal science was inspired by her grandfather, Richard Hostetler.

He developed in me a love for animals and being involved in FFA and 4-H solidified my career choice.

Mary Hostetler

Mary’s biggest dream is to start her own blood line and herd of Hereford cattle. She has a goal to give back to the community by either donating the meat to the Clothes and Food Basket of LaGrange County or selling it at reduced rates based on financial need.   

In the meantime, Mary will finish out her senior year at Westview feeling reassured that she does not have to worry about how her college expenses will be met.

It’s amazing to think I don’t have to worry about how to pay for college or about having a lot of debt after college. It allows me to focus on my goal of obtaining my degree in animal science and returning to LaGrange County.

Mary Hostetler

We want to wish Mary all the best as she pursues her dreams.

If you would like to learn more about the Lilly Endowment Scholarship, please click here.

High School is like Toilet Paper – you only miss it when it’s gone.

Anonymous

The statement above is an especially true sentiment given the unusual school year for the 2020 graduating seniors. Here at the Community Foundation we have always taken for granted that when springtime rolls around we get to congratulate and celebrate graduating seniors who receive our Community Foundation scholarships.

I am sure it is not surprising to you that it did not happen this year. And shucks! We missed it! We missed telling the seniors how proud we are of them. We missed reminding them that they should be proud of themselves for all of their accomplishments. We missed the excitement of presenting the awards. We missed the smiles and laughter.

We realized that if we missed the hoopla of senior celebrations, how much more the 2020 seniors missed it. We had to do something! We scratched our heads and came up with a plan to make this year’s scholarship recipients feel special and decided to roll with it (pun intended).

Each scholarship recipient received their scholarship award by snail mail, complete with a celebration kit (confetti included)! Yes, we could not be there in person to offer accolades to this year’s amazing seniors, but we sure did not want this year to slip by without acknowledging what an outstanding group of graduating seniors we have! Check out some of the photos we received from our 2020 scholarship recipients.

For a complete list of 2020 scholarship recipients click here.

Kurtis Davis, a senior at Westview Jr.-Sr. High School, has been named the recipient of the LaGrange County Community Foundation’s 2020 Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship.

Davis will receive a four-year, full-tuition scholarship to the accredited public or private college or university in Indiana of his choice, along with an annual $900 stipend for books and required equipment.

Davis is the son of Kenneth and Sherrie Davis of LaGrange. A two-sport student athlete in tennis and baseball, Davis maintains a 4.06 grade-point average. He plans to pursue a chemistry or chemical engineering degree at Bethel University or Indiana Wesleyan University.

Davis serves on National Honor Society, Student Council, Yearbook and the Junior Plus mentoring program. He has participated in a Tech Fest Competition.

This year, 16 applicants participated in LaGrange County’s Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship selection process. The foundation’s Lilly Scholarship Advisory Committee narrowed the field to five finalists based upon criteria that included scholastic profile, leadership, school activities, community service, work history, essays and interview performance.

The committee’s recommendations were forwarded to Independent Colleges of Indiana, the statewide administrator of the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Program, for final review and selection of the recipient.

Other finalists included: Ana Wahll and Ryker Bond of Lakeland High School and Chelsea Weaver and Skyler Hawk of Westview Jr.-Sr. High School. Each of the finalists will receive a $1,000 four-year renewable scholarship from the Lambright Leadership Scholarship Fund established by Kevin and Carrie Lambright in 2013.

Since 1998, a total of 39 Lilly Endowment Community Scholarships, including Davis’s have been awarded in LaGrange County. The total amount awarded to local LaGrange County students through this opportunity exceeds $3 million.

The scholarships are a result of a statewide Lilly Endowment initiative whose primary purposes are to help raise the level of educational attainment in Indiana; increase awareness of the beneficial roles Indiana community foundations can play in their communities; and encourage and support the efforts of current and past Lilly Endowment Community Scholars to engage with each other and with Indiana business, governmental, educational, and nonprofit and civic leaders to improve the quality of life in Indiana generally and in local communities throughout the state.

ICI is a nonprofit corporation that represents 30 regionally accredited degree granting, nonprofit, private colleges and universities in the state. This year, 143 scholarships were awarded statewide; the number awarded is based on the number of full-time residents. LaGrange County was offered one award in 2019. There have been more than 4,769 scholarships awarded statewide since the beginning of the program.