South St. Paul Educational Foundation awards graduates

Jake Spitzack Staff Writer

At its awards banquet in mid-May, the South St. Paul Educational Foundation awarded nearly half a million dollars in scholarships to a total of 140 South St. Paul students seeking higher education. The scholarships ranged from $1,000-$20,000 and were awarded to students entering all types of continuing education, including trade schools, community colleges and universities.

“The banquet was fantastic and every single kid who applied got a scholarship,” said South St. Paul Educational Foundation Executive Director Beth Skwira. “I think the reason we have so many

[scholarships] is because the community takes care of each other. It’s such a small, tight-knit community that when anyone passes away, they want to give back, and so most of our scholarships are memorial scholarships.”

Some scholarships have very specific guidelines, such as requiring students to have completed a certain number of honors classes in high school or to have already been accepted into a specific college or university. Most of the scholarships are recuring due to endowments, but new ones are frequently added. For example, if a donor gives $25,000 to establish an endowment, then the Foundation never touches that money but rather uses the interest it builds for an annual scholarship.

“These kids can’t even believe it and the thank you notes are starting to come in now,” said Skwira, who noted that student applications for scholarships are anonymous. “They’re so gracious that somebody they don’t even know has invested in their future because of this tight knit community. It’s really special.”

Since its inception in 1984, the Foundation has provided $7.7 million in scholarships for South St. Paul students seeking higher education. It also serves as a funding source for South St. Paul Public Schools. Donors can choose to give money for a school program, and teachers can apply to use it to improve their classroom or for new programs over and above the regular curriculum. A few examples include a fund for special education classroom equipment, and one to cover activity fees for students who cannot afford them. Likewise, in 2014, the Foundation began working with the South St. Paul Garden Club to fund an annual field trip for kindergarteners at Kaposia Education Center and Lincoln Center to visit the farm at Dodge Nature Center in West St. Paul. A few years later, the Foundation created “Mr. Otto’s Way,” a program that provides winter clothing for elementary students in need. The Foundation, which has two full-time and one part-time employee, keeps its lights on through its annual walk-a-thon and Friends of the Foundation gala. This year’s gala is set for November 16 and will honor two women who have contributed to the foundation in a meaningful way. They are Sharon Jakacki, who was office manager of the foundation for 20 years and is retiring this fall, and Jodee Paape, a longtime board member and accountant for the foundation. It also receives donations from organizations such as the South St. Paul Lion’s Club and the Abner Rude American Legion Post #481, as well as individual contributors and alumni who include the foundation in their will.

“The walkathon is going to throw some people off this year,” said Skwira. “Typi- cally, it’s at the high school and people take off from there and do a 5K through town. In the past, it used to be all kinds of ages of kids that would come, but now it’s mostly elementary kids and their families so it’s not super safe to have people running the streets. This year it’s going be at Lincoln Center around the track and it’s going be more like a carnival.” The event will feature some family friendly activities and free hot dogs. Half of the money raised by each child at the walk-a-thon can be used in the child’s classroom.

Since beginning as executive director about a year ago, Skwira has updated the Foundation’s website and continued on next page