Congratulations to the Staurulakis Family Scholarship Winners

JSI congratulates the winners of the 2015 Staurulakis Family Scholarships, given out as part of the Foundation for Rural Service (FRS) scholarship program. FRS awarded $155,000 for 52 scholarships to rural youth across the United States, and four students were selected to receive the $5,000 FRS Staurulakis Family Scholarships, which give preference to outstanding applicants with an interest in science, math, medicine, or engineering.

Each of the Staurulakis Family Scholarship winners have excelled academically, while participating in school activities, volunteering in their communities, holding down jobs and overcoming personal hardships. This year’s four winners are:

Logan Conn from Elizabethtown, Ill., will graduate from high school this spring with a 5.13 GPA, as well as 29 college credit hours. He maintained his grades, as well as his extracurricular activities, even after his mom passed away unexpectedly last year. He was sponsored by Shawnee Telephone Company and plans to study engineering at Southeastern Illinois College.

MiKaiyla Erfman Meyers from Brookville, Ind., was homeschooled along with her three brothers by their single mother. She has trained as a figure skater for 13 years and helps organize a giving tree at the local pregnancy help center each year. MiKaiyla has been accepted to both Miami University and the University of Cincinnati. She plans to study medical science in order to attend medical school to become an OB/GYN and return to her hometown. She was sponsored by Enhanced Telecommunications.

Caitlyn Allen from Fredonia, Arizona, achieved a 4.0 in high school and plans to major in biology (pre-med) at Northern Arizona University. In spite of her own health problems, plus those of others within her family, Caitlyn maintained her GPA as well as participated in band, chorus, dance team, and student government. Caitlyn was sponsored by South Central Communications.

Daniel Templeton from Cotton Center, Texas, maintained his high GPA while participating in Future Farmers of America, running cross country and track, and performing in the regional One Act Play. He also was voted “Tomorrow’s Leader” by The Plainview Daily Herald.  Daniel plans to attend Tarleton State University to study engineering. He was sponsored by South Plains Telephone Cooperative.

These scholarships were established as part of JSI’s 50^th Anniversary celebration in 2012 and will continue each year as part of the FRS scholarship program.  FRS scholarship recipients are selected by an independent team of reviewers from the education field. To be eligible, recipients must be sponsored by a NTCA member company, and must indicate a desire to return to their rural communities once their collegiate studies have been completed.

JSI does not administer these scholarships. The program is administered by the Foundation for Rural Service. More information about the FRS scholarship program can be found here – https://www.frs.org/youth-programs/college-scholarship-program.