Eight five-year-old girls who entered kindergarten at Thomas Lowry Elementary in the fall of 1950 were part of the first group of postwar baby boomers to start public school. They finished their elementary education, junior high, and Edison High School as fast friends, which they’ve remained, for more than 70 years.
The group – Kathy McCune Ranallo, Anne Johnson Miller, Joyce Wallace Johnson, Marlene Snyder Birkland, Karen Horning Wise, Mary Rondeau Westra, Kathy Brunner Kelly, and Kathy Andrescik Young – manages to meet at least once a year, though a couple of them no longer live in the Twin Cities. They were for a while known as the “Kindergarten Ladies,” a term they would prefer to let go of.
About a year ago Miller contacted Kelly (they grew up just a few doors down from each other) to reminisce. They discussed doing something to give back to the place that was so good to them and decided to pursue setting up a scholarship for Edison students to coincide with the 60th anniversary of their high school graduation in 2023. Noting the school’s demographic changes in the years since their student days, Miller and Kelly surmised that a scholarship for someone not on an academic college track or who would be interested in a technical or trade career might be just as valuable. Kelly added, “A candidate [could be one] whose family might be of moderate incomes and therefore ineligible to qualify for scholarships, and also for students who have a goal in mind to pursue that may be unattainable without help.”
Kelly got in touch with other group members and one of them, Karen Horning Wise, emailed everyone she could find from the class of 1963 for help. The response was immediate: donations from former classmates poured in, and the fund is now nearing $40,000. At this point, the group decided that the job was too big to handle without professional help, and Miller contacted Edison business teacher Mike Iacarella, a class of 1975 alumnus and current president of the Edison Community & Sports Foundation (ECSF).
Iacarella liked the idea that it would involve students with good but not necessarily stellar academic achievement, noting, “You might not become a rocket scientist, but you could help build the rocket.” He referred Kelly to ECSF founder John Vandermyde and the ECSF Scholarship Committee. The ECSF manages 20 annual scholarships for deserving Edison students in its capacity as a 501c3 non-profit organization and works with the Edison Faculty Scholarship Committee to select students according to the criteria provided by the Foundation and the donors. Over the past 37 years, more than 300 scholarships have been awarded.
Vandermyde said, “I reached out to a 1963 classmate of theirs, Terry Frovik, a member of the Edison Hall of Fame, who was able to make some introductions.” Vandermyde also supplied the group with forms and examples for them to use as they worked with the ECSF Board to structure the scholarship criteria and the selection process and to manage the contributions. They hope to have at least $60,000 in the fund before awarding the first scholarship in 2023, with the goal of at least one recipient each year.
Vandermyde added that one of the ECSF’s goals is to be able to offer post-secondary education scholarships to any student that attends Edison who performs academically well and participates in activities at the school such as music, theater, or sports, and who becomes “a good citizen in the process.”
The criteria might include a resume and two teacher recommendations. The group hopes to identify as many as 20 possible candidates. Kelly noted that there was some urgency with the process: “We will have to do some serious fundraising to reach that, but even if we don’t get there we will be able to offer generous scholarships to several graduates. Scholarship applications begin in the fall of this year for those graduating in 2023, so we need to hurry!”
The Minnesota State Legislature funds 60 scholarships per year for students in the fields of advanced manufacturing, agriculture, early childhood education, healthcare, information technology and transportation, but the amounts per student are relatively small (about $2500 per semester). Local technical schools (Anoka Tech, Century College, St. Cloud Tech, Hennepin Tech, Summit Academy and Minneapolis Community and Technical College also offer one- and two-year scholarships.
Wise said, about their project, “We have an exciting opportunity to help young people as they move forward toward life goals. I believe the spirit of Northeast and Edison High School is one of generosity, inclusion and community which is so important in this country at this time.”
Donations to the Class of 1963 Scholarship Fund can be made through the Edison Community & Sports Foundation at http://edisonsportsfoundation.org/class-1963-scholarship-fund
Below: Left to right: Kathy McCune Ranallo, Anne Johnson Miller, Joyce Wallace Johnson, Marlene Snyder Birkland, Karen Horning Wise, Mary Rondeau Westra, Kathy Brunner Kelly, Kathy Andrescik Young. (Provided photo)
