The Annexstad Family Foundation’s motto “Bright Minds…Big Dreams” is realized in the aspirations of each and every Annexstad scholar. The great majority of Annexstad scholars are the first in their families to go to college. Their inspiring stories of triumph over hardship and the success that they experience during and after their college careers are poignant reminders that America remains a land of opportunity for those who are prepared.
Leaders for Tomorrow National Scholarship Program
Working with a select group of America’s most honored institutions of higher learning, the Leaders for Tomorrow National Scholarship Program is making a significant investment in developing America’s future leaders from the ranks of deserving young people who have come from very humble and challenging beginnings. The schools identify, educate, and nurture a special group of highly talented young people into tomorrow’s leaders.
Horatio Alger Association Al and Cathy Annexstad Scholarship
In 2010, Mr. Annexstad was the recipient of the Horatio Alger Award, one of America’s highest civilian honors, given in recognition of his inspiring life story of achieving personal and professional success despite humble and challenging beginnings. The Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, Inc. bears the name of the renowned author Horatio Alger, Jr., whose tales of overcoming adversity through unyielding perseverance and basic moral principles captivated the public in the late 19th century. The Association was organized to recognize men and women of outstanding achievement and to remind Americans of the limitless possibilities that exist through the free-enterprise system. Deeply moved by this recognition, Al and Cathy chose to pay it forward by establishing a scholarship at Morehouse College, Emory University, Spelman College, the University of Georgia, the University of Notre Dame and the Georgia Institute of Technology. The Foundation has since established additional scholarships at Gustavus Adolphus College, the University of Alabama, the University of Minnesota and the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill. These prestigious institutions select recipients from their ranks who reflect the spirit of the Horatio Alger Association and the deep personal desire that the Annexstad family has to position higher education as a powerful force for positive social change.
Al and Cathy Annexstad Hope and Inspiration Scholarship
The Annexstads have never forgotten their hometown roots. Al Annexstad often speaks fondly of his childhood memories in St. Peter, Minnesota. They understand in a very personal way what a young person goes through when a parent is suddenly no longer part of their lives. The neighbors, friends, teachers and business people who rallied around them very positively shaped the trajectory of their lives. In appreciation, the Annexstads endowed a college scholarship at St. Peter High School which they hope will help change the lives of some deserving young people who have not experienced many of life’s blessings which so many others are fortunate to have received.
Annexstad Family Foundation Hope and Inspiration Scholarship
In the spirit of goodwill and charity, the Annexstad family chose to express their gratitude to communities who have had a profound impact to the Foundation leadership. Through partnership with a select group of high schools around the country, the Annexstads demonstrate their commitment to changing the lives of deserving young people in helping prepare them for rewarding and productive lives.
Marie Eustice Scholarship
Marie Eustice began her teaching career after graduating in 1927 from Mankato State Teachers College. She taught eight different grades of math, science, and English until 1938 when she married Bill Eustice. Marie raised their two children, Cathy and Bill Jr., until she returned to her love of teaching in 1953, becoming a 4th grade teacher in Belle Plaine, Minnesota.
Her caring approach to academics involved preparing her students for lifelong learning, while she developed long-lasting relationships with the families she served along the way. In the late 1950s, Minnesota established a requirement that all teachers must have bachelor’s degrees. To earn hers, Marie commuted an hour each way to what is now Minnesota State University, Mankato on nights and weekends, all the while she continued to teach full-time. On a wintry December morning in 1959, just before graduation, Marie tragically lost her life in a car accident.
In 2012, Minnesota State University, Mankato and the Annexstad Family Foundation came together to honor her memory and celebrate her legacy by establishing the Marie Eustice Scholarship. The scholarship is awarded by Minnesota State University, Mankato College of Education to a selected student in their junior year pursuing the Elementary Education Professional Program. It is given to a deserving student who has not faced the easiest path in life, but who possesses outstanding potential to become an extraordinary elementary education teacher… just as was dear Marie.