Swiss Benevolent Society
Education Committee
P.O. BOX 2137
Chicago, IL 60690-2137

E-mail: education@sbschicago.org

Education Committee

Chair: Franziska Lys
Members: Ernie Brauchli, Catherine Danz-Schildgen, Lisa Egli, John Paluch, Rob Streit

Education Report 2010

Chair: Franziska Lys PhD
Members: Ernie Brauchli, Catherine Danz, Lisa Egli, Daniel Keller, John Paluch

We awarded $ 40’000 in scholarship to a variety of students in the greater Chicago area. The scholarships are meant to give financial relief to families and to make a difference in the life of our young people by helping them reach their dreams and goals.

Merit Scholarship
Supporting highly qualified, low-income students with plans to study at a four-year college was our major concern this year again.  We awarded five scholarships à $ 2000 each: two scholarships went to Jones College Preparatory School, three to Lane Tech High School. Gwendolyn Brooks College Preparatory Academy did not send in any applications. The winning students were highly qualified, motivated young people with ambitious academic goals who showed great potential for a successful college career.

Two-Week Language Immersion at Concordia Language Village
The committee again received more than 80 applications in March from students who wanted to be the lucky winners of a two-week language immersion experience at the Concordia Language Villages at Concordia College, Moorhead, Minnesota. We awarded thirteen two-week scholarships of $1500 (with Concordia offering a rebate of $100 per child) for a total of $19,500. Eleven scholarships were awarded to students in Illinois, Wisconsin, and Indiana (seven for German, 1 for Italian, and 3 for French). One scholarship was given to the winner of the AATG language contest and one to the winner of the AATF language contest. This continues to be a very popular scholarship.

Undergraduate College Support Scholarships
The Undergraduate College Support Scholarships provide support to students for their college education. This scholarship again attracted a wonderful group of applicants. After careful evaluation of all applications, we selected the winners: seven in Category I (Seniors in High School), four in Category II (Freshmen in College), and seven in Category III (Sophomore or Juniors in College).  We awarded a total of $10,500 among the students in the three categories.

Applications for the 2011 scholarships are available from the webpage directly or through e-mail or regular mail. We will continue to provide support for underprivileged yet ambitious students in the Chicago area who are planning to go to college. We will continue to support undergraduate students going to college, and we will collaborate again with Concordia to provide scholarships for their language immersion program in the summer 2011.  I would like to thank all members of the Education Committee who continue to help evaluate the scholarship applications and select the winners

Respectfully submitted,                                                    Franziska Lys, Ph.D.
Chair, Education Committee
February 24, 2011