The State of Michigan Chapter 1607 of Phi Delta Kappa awards a $1,000 scholarship each year to high school or undergraduate students seeking a career in education. For more information and the application form, visit our Prospective Educator Scholarship page.
Please share the application form with students who are planning to become future educators in our schools: high school seniors or college undergraduates. Promote this opportunity with those in your area who can let students become aware of our State of Michigan PDK Chapter 1607 scholarships. We would like to see applicants from all areas of Michigan. The deadline for the scholarship application this year is March 22, 2024.
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.
