A Tribute to the Knowledge, Energy, and Passion behind the Annexstad Family Foundation By Al Annexstad …
Guiding Future Scholars to Opportunity at Redlands
Indian Springs High School teacher Joe Kelly gets a bit emotional talking about one of his former students. “I get teary-eyed thinking about Kimberly graduating,” he says of Kimberly Rios-Hernandez ’20, who earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Redlands in April. “She’s a great student and will do great things in life.” As a first-generation college-bound student, in high school Rios-Hernandez had the talent and ambition to go to college, but she felt she needed guidance: “Mr. Kelly is the reason I’m at Redlands. He was always looking out for us. He made sure we …
Annexstad Scholar Naren Briar Shares Her Story
Each year Boston College hosts a scholarship dinner in April. Two inspiring students are chosen to speak at the event and this year Naren Briar, an Annexstad Family Foundation Leaders for Tomorrow Scholar, was was one of those students. Despite the dinner being cancelled due to developments surrounding the coronavirus (COVID-19), Boston College wanted to give their scholarship recipients an opportunity to express their gratitude to their benefactors. Boston College created a video and showcased the transcripts of the speeches that were to be presented by Naren and fellow student James …
Making a Difference with Leaders for Tomorrow
Focus on a Specialized Scholarship Program: The Annexstad Family Foundation A shared life experience for Cathy and Al Annexstad (’10) is that they are children of single-parent homes created by the untimely deaths of parents. As a result, they grew up watching their living parents’ struggle to give their children the best lives possible. In Al’s case, this meant, in part, putting himself through college. In 2000, Cathy and Al established the Annexstad Family Foundation with the mission of helping bring the gift of higher education to deserving young people. The Leaders for …
Annexstad Scholar Gabrion Johnson Pays It Forward
By Beth Alston At the recent Americus-Sumter High School (ASHS) Band Banquet, the Gabrion Johnson Pay It Forward Band Scholarship was presented to its first recipient — De’Shun Iverson. Johnson was drum major of the ASHS Band in 2015-2016, and a 2016 Honor Graduate of ASHS. He is a junior financial planner major at the University of Georgia. When asked why he started the scholarship, Johnson said, “A lot of my friends and classmates talk about our community and how we want to motivate our kids and how they don’t know about college nor what to expect. They don’t know how to pay for …