Patricia Cassin Graft, Class of 1957, and Michael J. Graft, Sr. have established the Patricia Cassin Graft Student Teacher Assistance Fund (www.nl.edu/graftfund) at National-Louis University. The fund is a permanent endowment supported by the Graft family, other alumni and friends. The fund is meant to ease the pressure on NCE students who are dedicated to serving underserved schools, who face financial stress, and who recognize the importance of the philanthropic values that have made these funds available.
Currently, the fund seeks to make awards of $4,000 in tuition assistance to one or more graduate or undergraduate NCE students who will complete their final student teaching requirement in the Fall 2009 term.
The fund does not provide cash awards. Recipients of the award receive a credit to their account at National-Louis to offset the cost of tuition during their student teaching.
Recipients of the award sign a written agreement (fellowship agreement) that requires them to teach in an underserved school of their choice in the Chicago or suburban region for the first two consecutive years following graduation. We define underserved schools as those where more than half of students are from low income families, and more than half of students are members of minority groups. Consult the Illinois State Board of Education eReport Card Public Site for information about specific public schools.
The fund looks for candidates of exceptional talent who: a) are committed to teaching in low income communities; b) show promise of becoming highly qualified teachers and role models; and c) have significant financial need.
Students who are interested in being considered for this award should prepare an original written narrative that includes all of the following in the order presented below:
