Sophie Brown, a 2020 graduate of Caro High School, is this year’s recipient of our chapter’s Prospective Educator Scholarship.
During her high school career, Sophie participated in many educational, leadership and service activities including concert band, jazz band and marching band. She was drum captain for drumline, drum major for marching band and a percussion section leader in concert band. She was also a principal player for the Tri-County Honors Band and the MSBOA Honors Band and participated in the Michigan Youth Arts Festival Orchestra. Sophie was also a member of the National Honor Society and served as President and Vice-President of Student Council. While being engaged in so many activities, Sophie also maintained high academic success, graduating with a 3.967/4.0 GPA.
In the community, Sophie was a member of the First Baptist Church Adult Choir and Praise Band, organized several fundraisers, was a Special Olympics volunteer, and participated in several Caro High School and Thumb Area community theater productions. She was a Vacation Bible School Leader, participated in a 6-day mission trip to Cleveland, Ohio, and a 10-day mission trip to Togo, West Africa.
In her goals statement, Sophie wrote that “being a teacher means inspiring students to become the best version of themselves.” By becoming a music teacher, she hopes to “include the kids who are often excluded, welcome the kids who are often pushed aside, and facilitate a safe, loving environment for any student who enters my classroom”.
In her letter of recommendation, Tamara Kosters, Caro Community Schools Choral Director, wrote that “Sophie is one of those students who stands out among the rest due to her desire to be a well-rounded individual and her work ethic to achieve that desire”. Kosters stated that she has been most impressed with Sophie’s teachable spirit. “There will always be something more to learn” is a philosophy that defines Sophie’s life academically, socially and spiritually.
Sophie plans to pursue her goal to become a music educator at Central Michigan University.
We were unable to honor Sophie and her family at our annual Awards Dinner this year due to the current COVID-19 health crisis, but we hope to celebrate her award at next year’s event.
Honoring Our Distinguished Members
Cynthia Cockrel, our Membership Chair, would like to acknowledge our long-time members. According to records from PDK International, listed below are those who have been members of Phi Delta Kappa for 45+ years.
67 years
John Rosemergy
Rex Thuston
65 years
Kalmer Stordahl
64 years
Charles Blackman
62 years
Harold Ray
59 years
Philip Gannon
Foster Gibbs
Richard Leland
Lester London
Jerry Robbins
William Sosnowsky
58 years
David Curl
Jay Fennell
Nicholas Oana
57 years
Roy Kaiser
Walter Syroid
56 years
Gerald Coscarelly
Thomas Culhane
Harry Groulx
Thompson Moffit
John Schweder
55 years
C. Chrysler
Edward Heinig
Robert Weitz
54 years
Earl Newman
Gene Nuckolls
Ralph Skrocki
John Tuttle
B. West
52 years
Paul Harvey
Frederick Leitch
51 years
James McCray
Andrew Porter
Jaswant Singh
Charles Smith
Alan Springgay
50 years
Dan Chavez
Homer Filley
Ronald Laeder (Executive Board member)
Michael Nicholson
David Randall
49 years
James Hengoed
Joseph Hrecz
Dale Wolfgram
G. Zubulake
48 years
Donald Campbell
47 years
Rosemarie Battey
David Frankel
46 years
Paul Hoeksema
45 years
Warren Bailey
Anthony Benaglio
Laverne Boss
Jean Rosenthal
William Scharffe
Douglas Wiseman
We congratulate you and thank you for your continued dedication to Phi Delta Kappa. All members are encouraged to contact Cynthia Cockrel at ccockrel@comcast.net to keep us updated on how/what you are doing.
Chapter Notes
We extend our condolences to the families of several distinguished members who passed away this year:
- Allen Menlo (member for 66 years)
- Frederick Brail (member for 64 years)
- Stuart Rankin (member for 61 years)
At our final Executive Board meeting of the year (held remotely) on May 6, the following board members were elected:
- Sherie Klee, President
- Cynthia Cockrel, Membership Chair
- Wei Gu, Scholarship Committee Chair
- Mary Anne Homann, Executive Board Member
- Beverly Knox-Pipes, Newsletter Chair
- Jane Kramer, Past President and Treasurer
- Ron Laeder, Co-chair Scholarship Committee
- James Schwarz, Executive Board Member
A special thank you to the Executive Board members who have served our chapter with me over the last several years. It has been an honor to serve as President of the Board and I look forward to working with all of you in the years ahead.
Jane Kramer
We are always looking for new members to join the Executive Board. Please contact Sherie Klee at willishe@gvsu.edu if you are interested in joining us.