As Hannah Olson and her two siblings grew up with their single mom in Wells, about 30 minutes from Minnesota State University, Mankato, she thought about teaching as a career. Emphasis on thought about. It was a high school teacher’s attention that made the difference between interest and action.
“He not only cared about us being successful academically, but he also cared about getting to know us personally,” says Hannah, a junior Elementary Education major. “I wanted to follow his lead in an elementary education setting.”
A century earlier, a young woman entering the teaching profession in the Mankato area would earn a similar reputation for caring and inspiring kids to learn and explore. She was Marie Eustice, the namesake of a two-year Scholarship that Hannah recently received from the Annexstad Foundation.
From the start, Marie – mother to Cathy Annexstad, was the kind of teacher whose approach and enthusiasm fascinated her young students. A 1927 graduate of Mankato State Teachers College (which became MSU, Mankato), Marie taught eight different grades in a one-room schoolhouse, covering math, science, and English.
“Marie was a beacon in why we started the Foundation,” Al Annexstad says. “As an elementary school teacher, Marie provided care and consideration to her classroom to foster an environment where students had the opportunity to fall in love with learning.”
The family connection to Minnesota State, Mankato is a deep one, beginning well before the forming of the Foundation with both Marie Eustice and Al, who graduated from the university in 1967, calling the school their alma mater.
“Minnesota State, Mankato had a deep impact on Cathy and I,” Al says. “For us, and Cathy’s mother, Marie, the access to an affordable four-year public institution allowed us to dream of opportunities and goals beyond our high school experience.” For their contributions to society, both
Al and Cathy were awarded honorary doctorates by the University in 2012 – two of only three recipients in Minnesota State, Mankato’s history.
The Marie Eustice Scholarship allows recipients to focus on student teaching instead of outside jobs during their final two years of school. Ideal candidates are students who persevered through difficult times.
That includes Abigayle Marko, a senior in the Elementary Education program. When her father died unexpectedly, Abigayle, at 15, found herself thrust into a co-parenting position to her four brothers in the small town of Amery, Wisconsin. Now a second-year student at MSU, Mankato, that role continues. Abigayle routinely makes weekend trips to help shuffle her younger brothers around to their various activities.
“I took on a parent’s responsibility faster than I was planning on,” she says. The Marie Eustice Scholarship makes it manageable.
“It’s been immensely helpful for the last couple of semesters, and especially with student teaching coming up,” she adds.
“I don’t know how I would do it with a job. I’ve been able to focus a lot more on school rather than bouncing around jobs. I couldn’t be more grateful.”
Hannah vividly remembers receiving the phone call notifying her that she’d be receiving the Marie Eustice Scholarship.
“I was in such disbelief. I was having a bad week due to a very close loved one passing. It’s an amazing way to keep on being determined to do what I’m doing,” she says.
“It’s really changed my life… I don’t have to worry about my financial burden anymore, and I can focus on my studies and push toward being a successful elementary teacher,” like Marie, whose influence lives on in this Scholarship.
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Minnesota State University, Mankato and The Annexstad Family Foundation proudly celebrate 8 years of partnership.