NCTC Foundation honors donors and scholarship recipients
The North Central Texas College Foundation celebrated the accomplishments of students and the donors who helped provide scholarships for those students at the annual Donor and Scholar Breakfast Friday at Lions Gym on the NCTC Gainesville campus.
The casino theme of this year’s event represented the “bet” that donors take on the future success of our students.
The events allowed scholarship recipients the chance to meet and personally thank the donors and employees who gave money for scholarships through the NCTC Foundation. It also allowed the donors to get to know the students and learn more about them and their future plans.
Ryan Morris, the President of the NCTC Foundation, welcomed the crowd and thanked the donors for their support of the scholarship program and wished the recipients good luck as they continue their pursuit of education.
Pat Lawson, NCTC Foundation Member provided an invocation before Debbie Sharp, NCTC Vice Chancellor of External Affairs, announced that 8 new scholarships have been established within the past year.
The first scholarship was established from an estate gift that will provide educational scholarships for students in Montague County that are attending NCTC. Through her estate, Adeline Clark Beatty allocated funds to establish scholarships for these students. Adeline was a Bowie native whose degrees included biology, chemistry and medical technology. Her career spanned from pharmaceuticals to NASA.
George and Sandra Burrow established the Burrow Family Scholarship to provide scholarships for Cooke County students. George and Sandra are big supporters of the college, serving on the alumni board, working at the library and now establishing this endowed scholarship.
Cooke County native and retired teacher, Christie Hall, along with her husband, David, established the Lana and Robert Hall Scholarship fund at North Central Texas College. As a senior at Callisburg High School, Christie was able to attend business classes at NCTC, then Cooke County College, and she said that made her transition from high school to college at NCTC very comfortable.
On the first anniversary of her husband Pete Shauf’s death, Susie Shauf, along with her children, established the Pete Shauf “GRIT” Award scholarship fund. The “GRIT” award stands for gratitude, responsibility, integrity, and tenacity, four characteristics that embodied Pete Shauf. It was the foundation’s pleasure to award the first full ride scholarship this fall.
Monty and Victoria Fisher established the Monty & Victoria Fisher Scholarship. They are no strangers to NCTC, having both attended the college at one point in time. Monty is a Cooke County native and graduated from Gainesville High School. Victoria grew up close by, in Montague County, and graduated from Saint Jo High School. Their scholarship will help students who have a financial need and who are from Cooke or Montague Counties.
Phil and Amanda Neelley established the Phil and Amanda Neelley Scholarship Fund to assist single mothers in getting their education. Phil is currently serving as the Executive Vice President of the NCTC Foundation Board.
This year, the NCTC Foundation was the recipient of the Emergency Aid Grant from the Greater Texas Foundation. This grant will give the college $120,000 over a three-year period to provide emergency aid funds for students.
In honor of his grandparents, NCTC Chancellor Dr. Brent Wallace has established the L.B. & Oneta Wallace Promise Scholarship to assist graduating seniors attend NCTC and participate in the Red River Promise program.
Through two anonymous donors, the foundation also received an additional $150,000 in scholarship support for NCTC students.
The guest speaker at Friday’s breakfast was English, Speech and Foreign Language Professor Jacob Arnold, the 2021 recipient of the Excellence in Teaching Award. He encouraged students to bet on their own future and to take that leap whenever tough decisions present themselves.
Chris Allison, NCTC Foundation Director, introduced three scholarship recipients, Jacquelyn Anderson, Tony Johnson, and Casey Buss, who each spoke about how the scholarships they received have helped them in their goal of obtaining an education.
Janice Crawley, an NCTC Montague County Foundation board member, then recognized all the donors and recipients present at the event.
The breakfast ended with NCTC Chancellor Dr. Brent Wallace thanking the donors and congratulating the scholarship recipients.
For more information about the NCTC Foundation, contact Sharp at 940-668-3305.