May 2015
Three students in the Anoka-Hennepin School District were awarded scholarships by a program that rewards students who have overcome challenges and aims to help them graduate from college with little to no debt.
The Catch A Break Scholarship program selected Samuel Bryson of Andover High School, Connor Dinzl of Champlin Park High School, and Maureen Galleymore of Coon Rapids High School (CRHS) to each receive scholarships worth $10,000 per year for four years.
The students were chosen out of 99 applicants from around the state because they best fit the program’s mission: helping high-potential students who, given the opportunity to graduate from college with relatively minimal debt, could make significant contributions to the world.
The founders of the scholarship are a married couple who want to use their money to make a difference, and they feel the best way to do that is through young people who have demonstrated resilience and the ability to overcome obstacles, said Dr. Holly Johnson, head of the program’s selection committee.
“We’re looking for kids with resilience. We’re looking for how they have handled some kind of hardship in their lives,” she said. “Research shows people who demonstrate resilience have more of a probability of making a difference in the world.”
Students must meet certain criteria to receive the funds, such as attending a public university in Minnesota, living in the dorms their freshman year, and not having a job their freshman year. Johnson said those criteria are early predictors of college success. Students must also meet with committee members after each semester to review goals and see how they’re doing.
The scholarship, which is only in its second year, is administered through Scholarship America. It was created for middle- to lower-income students, including students who don’t qualify for Pell grants, a demographic that can fall through the cracks of college funding, Johnson said.
“These are really high potential kids, and really hardworking families, and there’s just no money for them,” she said.
Jeff McGonigal, associate superintendent for high school education, said this scholarship will really turn things around for students who receive it.
“It’s terrific. This is just a great opportunity. It’s a significant amount of money to students who really need it,” he said. “Some of these students are ready for a high-end education, they just don’t know how they’re going to fund it.”
CRHS senior Maureen Galleymore said she was thrilled to receive the scholarship. “It means the world to me,” she said. “College is the only way that I’m going to be able to get where I want to go. So to have the financial weight off my back is amazing. I come from a lower income family, so I’m really thankful for this.”
Galleymore impressed the selection committee with her essay describing how she overcame the difficulties of her parents’ divorce and the strain it placed on her family, including some self-destructive behaviors that resulted.
“Sometimes I’m stuck in my head, but now what I do to get out of that is I write, I talk to my mom a lot because I can tell her anything, and I have a huge support system at school and on both sides of my family,” she said.
Galleymore, who is student council president and president of her class, said she doesn’t know what she will major in yet, but she is interested in anthropology and environmental studies.
“I love getting to know different cultures, but I also like the thought of giving back to the Earth,” she said.
Johnson said all three students really stood out during the interviews.
“Each of them had really gone through something in their lives. You can just see with these kids that, wow, they are going to go far if they get a break,” she said. “And that’s what we’re doing with this: trying to get them launched with the best success.”