Plug for my High School STEM Scholarship

[pbe gummi bear]

Hi WKC,

I wanted to tell you and ask for support for the STEM scholarship my wife and I are supporting for my alma mater, Mundelein High School in the northern suburbs of Chicago, IL. I founded the Mundelein STEM Explorers (MHS STEM-X) Scholarship in 2018 to give back to my community and inspire students. I graduated from MHS 15 years ago and they have always provided me and my three siblings many opportunities. In fact, my youngest brother just graduated this year. The goal of the scholarship is to facilitate immersive pre-college STEM opportunities to promising students who are interested in STEM topics and careers- especially the 40% low-income and 50% underrepresented minority portion of the MHS student body.

I have provided several scholarships for students to attend college STEM programs such as a coding camp at Northwestern, the Explore Your Options in Engineering program at UIllinois, and the Seminar for Top Engineering Prospects program at Purdue. This scholarship has successfully solidified the recipients' interest in engineering, boosted their college applications, and allowed them to directly pursue STEM majors in college. This article on the MHS website has additional information about previous years' scholarships: https://www.d120.org/alumni-success-leads-to-stem-scholarships-for-students/

I am continuing continue the scholarship again for the third year this summer and plan to fund two inspiring students, one is the president of the programming club and the other is an aspiring roboticist, to participate in the Grainger "What it Takes" Virtual Summer Camp co-sponsored by the University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year the camp will take place remotely, rather than in person. Some of the planned activities for the camp include:

• Two-week experience of exploring the various engineering fields through presentations, speakers, demonstrations, and hands-on labs and projects.
• Virtual fieldtrips to working research labs on campus and related industries.
• Unique breakout sessions around special interests such as women and minorities in engineering, college essay writing, and more.
• Hands-on labs and projects using materials from the Lab Kit that will be mailed to the participants’ homes.
• Meeting new people and engaging socially as well as academically in daily small group sessions via web conference, facilitated by a University of Illinois student who will be [a guide for the week

I am shamelessly asking for your support to give these two students the best summer experience possible. Every single cent donated will be given directly to students for tuition and other qualified educational expenses to support their success. In addition to the virtual camp at UofI, one of the students is also tackling an online summer course in data science through Coursera. The scholarship will be awarded through the Mundelein High School foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit so all donations are tax deductible. Several members have kindly donated in the past and any support is much appreciated. Leave a comment or shoot me a pm if you would like to support or have questions. Cheers!

Gummi

[Mr.CPHo]

I remember you’ve done this in the past, kudos, PBE.  Is there a link we should follow?  Or just PP you?

[JEBIV]

Awesome to hear, we need more of this in our world. I am in again for sure

[pbe gummi bear]

Thanks, @Mr.CPHo and @JEBIV! You can send the donation to me in whatever form is the most convenient for you, PayPal or Venmo work OK? I will need your contact information/address for the receipt if you need it. I'll send you a message offline.

[pbe gummi bear]

Hi WKC, I'm bumping this up again for an end-of-the year push to raise additional funds for the 2021 STEM scholarship. The pandemic has hit schools hard and students with lower incomes and resources are getting disproportionately affected with decreased opportunities for learning and/or totally falling behind/out of the school system all together. I spoke to the MHS foundation president recently and their fundraising cash flow is down over 80%.  :'( My wife and I will be continuing this scholarship in the summer to give more students a much needed boost. Hopefully we can continue to expand the scholarship too. Every cent donated will go directly to a student and all donations are 100% tax deductible for the 2020 tax year. I will make this as easy for you as possible if you're interested in donating! Just reply below or shoot me a pm. Thank you and happy holidays WKC!

[JEBIV]

Sending pm

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

[RRRanger99]

PM sent.

[dazzo]

Hey Lawrence,

Is there a deadline, and would they qualify for matching grants?

[pbe gummi bear]

Hey Lawrence,

Is there a deadline, and would they qualify for matching grants?

The "deadline" to donate to get a deduction for this 2020 tax year would be 12/30. Otherwise, the Scholarships wont be decided until Early April so one can donate through March for this academic year's scholarship cycle. Thanks!