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, Lisa Egli, Daniel Keller, Gilles Noyer, John Paluch,

Education Report 2009

We are happy to report that we were able to support quite a few students in their scholarly pursuits this year even though less funds were available: we awarded scholarship in the amount of almost $ 40’000. The 2009 winners are listed here and on the SBS web page at: http://www.sbschicago.org.

Merit Scholarship
We continue to award the Merit Scholarship to highly qualified, low-income students with plans to study at a four-year college. This is our way to support the city of Chicago. In 2009, we asked students from three Chicago Public High-Schools to compete for a total of $10,000. The students who applied were highly motivated with ambitious personal and educational goals. After reviewing the applications, the committee gave out five scholarships, each $2000: two to Jones College Preparatory School, two to Lane Tech High School and one to Gwendolyn Brooks College Preparatory Academy.

Two-Week Language Immersion at Concordia Language Villages
This continues to be a very popular scholarship. The committee again received more than 80 applications in March for a two-week language immersion experience at the Concordia Language Villages at Concordia College, Moorhead, Minnesota. We awarded twelve two-week scholarships of $1385 (with Concordia offering a rebate of $250 per child) for a total of $16,620. Eleven scholarships were awarded to students in Illinois, Wisconsin, and Indiana. One scholarship was given to the winner of the AATF language contest.

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, twenty-six in total. After careful evaluation of all applications, we selected the winners: eight in Category I (Seniors in High School), five in Category II (Freshmen in College), and eight in Category III (Sophomore or Juniors in College). The scholarship amounts ranged from $1,000, to $500 per scholarship. We awarded a total of $13,000.

Applications for the 2010 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 2010. Many thanks goes to the members of the Education Committee who continue to help administer the scholarships and select the winners

Respectfully submitted
Franziska Lys, Ph.D.
February 9, 2010
Chair, Education Committee