Nicholas Miller Awarded Bruce & Jackie Cook Scholarship

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DLP-2413 Twenty-six of the academic leaders and best from the Shiawassee County region are headed to the University of Michigan next fall with scholarships from the Cook Family Foundation.  Among those recognized on May 12 by UM President Mark Schlissel was Laingsburg senior Nicholas Miller, this year’s recipient of the Bruce and Jacqueline Cook Scholarship.  He is the ninth winner of this full tuition scholarship provided by the two alumni of the University.

Nick Miller is a National Merit Scholarship commended student with a 3.96 grade point average.  He is captain of the Laingsburg quiz bowl team and science olympiad team.  An avid band member, Nick is a section leader as well as a trumpet soloist in the the jazz band. His career plan is to study epidemiology at Michigan leading to graduate study in public health.

In remarks as part of the scholarship recognition dinner, President Mark Schlissel stressed that the University of Michigan is a public university with a goal of serving academically talented students from throughout the state.  He noted the strong scholarship and financial aid support the University gives to make UM the most affordable public university in the state.  He also thanked alumni like Bruce and Jackie Cook for their support, and urged recent alumni to be advocates and recruit talented students to the University.

The Cook Family Foundation was formed in 1978 and provided one scholarship that year to the University of Michigan.  The Foundation now offers a scholarship to all high school students from the Shiawassee region who are admitted to UM.  More than 500 scholarships have been granted.  The Bruce and Jacqueline Scholarship is funded separately from the Foundation.

This year’s recipients of scholarship to the University of Michigan include from Byron: Brianna Wells; from Chesaning: Trevor Andrews, Tori Turpin; from Corunna: Larissa Robinson-Cooper, Cassidy Schnepp, Scott Feldpausch; from Durand: Tristan Blackledge, Lucas Schaeffer; from Lainsgsburg: Kurt McEwan, Nicholas Miller, Antonia Vrana, Clayton Zimmerman; from New Lothrop: Spencer Wendling, Roen Wheeler; from Owosso: Brittney Crawford, Abigail Edwards, Thomas Horak, Joseph Jafri, Jordan Sowash; from Ovid-Elsie: Elizabeth Bisson, Gordon Johnson; and from Perry: Jordan Depew, Amelia Feuka, Marissa Frent, Brett Ivey, Miranda Lewis

You can learn more about the Foundation’s scholarships on the website’s scholarship tab

 

 

Michigan President to Speak to Cook Family Foundation Scholars on May 12

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um14pres4New University of Michigan President Mark Schlissel will be coming to Owosso on May 12 to congratulate new students from the Shiawassee area who are attending the University in the fall of 2015. The dinner and reception is hosted by the Cook Family Foundation, which provides a scholarship to every local high school graduate who attends the University of Michigan.

Dr. Mark Schlissel, was named the 14th President of the University of Michigan on July 1, 2014. He is the first physician-scientist to lead the University. He has stated a commitment to increase the opportunities for rural students from throughout the state to attend the University. The visit to Owosso is part of this effort.

The Cook Family Foundation, established by the late Donald Cook, a 1924 UM graduate, has provided more than 400 scholarships to the University of Michigan for graduates from Byron, Chesaning, Corunna, Durand, Laingsburg, Morrice, New Lothrop, Owosso, Ovid-Elsie, and Perry high schools. This year, students from all these local schools will be recognized, along with their parents.

One of the highlights of the evening will be the introduction of this year’s recipient of the four-year, full-tuition Bruce and Jacqueline Cook Scholarship.

The dinner will be held at the Baker College Welcome Center in on Tuesday, May 12 2015 beginning at 5:30 p.m.  All scholarship recipients and family members are honored guests. Current students at the University are also welcome to attend; please contact bruce@cookfamilyfoundation.org  Alumni of the University, educators, and others with an interest are invited to attend. Cost of the event is $20.   For more information, please call 989-725-1621. RSVPs are requested by May 5.

 

Spring 2015 Annual Report Now Available Online

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The Cook Family Foundation’s spring newsletter just hit mailboxes (let us know if you want to be added to the mailing list) and is available on our website (click here). The cover story is about our support for the Respite Volunteers of Shiawassee which serves Shiawassee County adults with persistent health needs and their families–giving them the precious gift of their time to help those in need.

Inside the newsletter you will find information about our five main funding priorities for 2015, and our annual report where we recap the grants we made in 2014. In the last five years, the foundation has made grants totaling in excess of 2.5 million dollars in five primary areas as depicted in the chart below:

PieChart

If you haven’t had the chance previously, you may want to look around our website as well. In our “About” section, you can find a video that gives the history of our founders, Don and Florence-etta Cook, as well as contact information.  Check out the “Nonprofit Capacity Building Program” section for details on upcoming educational opportunities, how to get support for local organizations, and to read our thoughts on collaborative efforts to improve the community.