Education notes

Credit union scholars

Members Cooperative Credit Union has announced the winners of its 2020 Young Leaders Scholarship Program. The scholarship awards are presented annually to graduating high school seniors wishing to further their education. Following a rigorous review of competitive applicants, MCCU selected 11 college-bound seniors for scholarships totaling $10,000 in the Minnesota communities served by the credit union. Local recipients include Hanna Lattu of Wrenshall ($1,000) and Sydney Hall of Cloquet ($1,000).

The scholarship program, created in 2014, has awarded $69,000 to graduating high school seniors. MCCU is the largest credit union based north of the Twin Cities area.

WITC scholars

Two Cloquet students received scholarships from Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College. Wing Lee was awarded an Enbridge Energy Scholarship and Nolan Williams received both the James Quinn Memorial Scholarship and St. Luke’s Health Care Career Scholarship. A total of 273 students received scholarships from the WITC Foundation for a total of $150,800 awarded.

Esko native honored

Curry College, in Milton, Massachusetts, announced that Justin Ketola of Esko has been inducted into Sigma Beta Delta, the international honor society for those studying business, management and administration. Ketola was also inducted into the Alexander Graham Bell Honor Society, which inducts up to 10 percent of the senior class and up to five percent of the junior class. Justin is one of 39 undergraduate students inducted this year. The objective of the Alexander Graham Bell society is to promote and recognize academic excellence at Curry College. Alexander Graham Bell was an early chancellor at Curry.

FDLTCC earns an accreditation

The National Alliance of Concurrent Enrollment Partnerships’ accreditation commission granted accreditation to Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College’s concurrent enrollment program. FDLTCC’s College in the Schools program is one of just 116 accredited programs in the United States.

The alliance is the leading membership organization supporting academic programs that successfully transition students from high school to college through college credit-bearing courses taken while students are in high school.

“Earning and receiving this national accreditation is the culmination of several years of program review, self-study, data collection and analysis, and adjusting processes to make sure we have the best possible program in place,” said Damien Paulson, academic adviser and College in the Schools coordinator at FDLTCC. “We have been operating an excellent concurrent enrollment program for more than 20 years, so this designation confirms we provide a rigorous academic program of college courses delivered in high school classrooms.”

Alliance standards serve as the model criteria for ensuring parity in faculty, course content, student outcomes, and support. Receiving accreditation means an institution has met the nation’s most rigorous standard in concurrent enrollment program development, management, and evaluation across multiple, multifaceted program areas.

“Our program’s overall success is possible through the ongoing support of our college’s administration, faculty, and staff, and our 17 partnering high schools,” Paulson said. “Through our College in the Schools program we provide early access to college courses that help students prove they can complete college-level curriculum and earn college credits toward a degree. For most students, this is their very first experience with college courses and the accompanying academic expectations.”

Cyson graduates

The University of Minnesota Crookston announced its spring 2020 graduates, including Daniel Cyson of Cloquet, who graduated with a degree in finance.

Named to dean’s list

Cloquet’s Robert Sobczak was named to the spring dean’s list at Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota in Winona. The list includes 451 undergraduate students who earned a grade point average of 3.60 or better on a 4.0 scale. He is the son of Nancy Sobczak.

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Bethel University in St. Paul announced its spring dean’s list honoring students who achieve a grade point average of 3.6 or greater. It included Cloquet’s Brielle Larson, Abigail Rud and Lilly Wallin.