Cook Family Foundation

UM-Flint Provost Addresses Owosso Rotarians and Honors Local Scholars

Pictured (from left to right) are: Bruce Cook (President) and Tom Cook (Executive Director) of the Cook Family Foundation; scholarship recipients Callum Holley and Jacob Burgess; and Dr. Sonja Feist-Price (University of Michigan-Flint Provost and Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs)

The Cook Family Foundation announces the awarding of 12 scholarships to Shiawassee area high school graduates to attend the University of Michigan-Flint.  On Wednesday, November 17, Provost Sonja Feist-Price was able to recognize several of the students who started at the University this semester.

Dr. Feist-Price, the University of Michigan-Flint’s Provost and Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs, also spoke to the Owosso Rotary Club.  She provided details on their recent expansion of programs and facilities and shared her personal philosophy, “I believe education is the great equalizer, and that accessibility to learning changes lives. As a first-generation college graduate, I can attest to the power of education and how it changed my life, and the lives of so many others for the better.” 

Dr. Feist-Price began her education at McNeese State University in Lake Charles, Louisiana.  She now holds doctorates from Southern Illinois University and the University of Kentucky, where she was the Vice President for Institutional Diversity prior to coming to Michigan.

Dr. Feist-Price also noted the numerous scholarship programs available at the University of Michigan-Flint, as well as the recent partnership with the Cook Family Foundation to provide scholarships for academically accomplished Shiawassee County area students.  Learn more about these and other scholarships (eligibility and how to apply) at the Foundation’s website  https://www.cookfamilyfoundation.org/scholarships/one-university-three-campuses/s/

After her Owosso Rotary address, Dr. Feist-Price, then presented certificates to recent recipients of Cook Family Foundation UM-Flint scholarships, who were available to attend the event.  Here is the full list of scholarship recipients:  

Kelsey Andrykovich, Owosso High School 2021 Graduate
Jacob Burgess, New Lothrop High School 2021 Graduate
Leah Clough, Corunna High School 2019 Graduate
Abigail Cooper, Ovid-Elsie High School 2021 Graduate
Kylee Flaherty, Byron High School 2021 Graduate
Allyson Gillett, Durand High School 2021 Graduate
Callum Holley, Ovid-Elsie High School 2021 Graduate
Hayley Lademan, Morrice High School 2020 Graduate
Aiden Loos, Durand High School 2021 Graduate
Lillian Scripter, Durand High School 2021 Graduate
Levi Thiele, Corunna High School 2021 Graduate
Sierra Wisely, Owosso High School 2021 Graduate

“We are proud to have these young men representing our area as well as the other 10 students we have recently given scholarships to the University of Michigan-Flint,” said Foundation President, Bruce Cook, “We are committed to helping local students attend any of the campuses of the University of Michigan.”  

The Foundation provides a scholarship of at least $3,000 to any Shiawassee area student who is admitted to U of M- Ann Arbor. In addition, the Foundation also provides scholarships to Shiawassee area students with a 3.7 GPA or higher, who are admitted to UM-Flint or UM-Dearborn. 

There are two important advantages in attending UM-Flint or UM-Dearborn. Not only are both schools outstanding four-year institutions, but they also offer the opportunity to earn credits that easily transfer to UM-Ann Arbor. No matter where a student starts or finally graduates within the system, their degree carries the important block M indicating they are a graduate of the University of Michigan. 

Photo credit: Michael D-L Jordan/David-Lorne Photographic Twenty-five of the most academically accomplished high school seniors from the Shiawassee County area recently made a trip to Ann Arbor. (See below for the full listing of all thirty-nine nominees, which includes those nominees unable to attend the trip.)

Thirty-nine of Shiawassee County region’s most  academically accomplished high school seniors have been nominated for scholarships to the University of Michigan by the Cook Family Foundation.  One of these students will be selected to receive a four-year, full-tuition, scholarship from Bruce and Jacqueline Cook.

In order to assist them with their college selection, twenty-five of the nominees recently attended an overnight trip to the University of Michigan where they met with admission officers, took a tour of the campus and stadium, heard a presentation for a professor, and had the opportunity to spend time with students from the Shiawassee County area presently enrolled at the University of Michigan.

“We want to make sure the leaders and the best among local high school students seriously consider the University of Michigan for the next level of education,” said Foundation President Bruce Cook.  “We are committed to the academic success of local students, and are committed to building partnerships with our public schools and our oldest public university.”

Each of the nominees will receive at least a $3,000 scholarship to the University of Michigan from the Cook Family Foundation.  The Cook Family Foundation annually provides a scholarship to any student from the greater Shiawassee region admitted to the University of Michigan.  In addition to scholarships to help students attend the University of MIchigan in Ann Arbor, the Foundation now also provides scholarships to Shiawassee area students with a 3.7 GPA or higher, who are admitted to UM-Flint or UM-Dearborn.  For assistance applying to UM, or for more information on scholarships, contact the Foundation or visit their website at: cookfamilyfoundation.org.

If they apply and are admitted to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, the following students will be considered for the Bruce and Jacqueline Cook scholarship: from Byron: Ella Coulter, Abigail Franzmeier, Rachel Reed, and Anya Wasilenski; from Chesaning:  Reed Frasier, Nicholas Healey, and Hayden Williams; from Corunna:  Stephen Bender, Kalon Boilore, Claire Buckley, Colin Lavery and Collin Munro; from Durand:  Zachary Hinojosa; from Laingsburg:  Grace Elfring, Grant Goetschy, Reece Kramer, Caiden Palaziola, Alyse Rowley, and Ethan West; from New Lothrop:  Hannah Beaucamp, Eva Harden, Isabel Henige, Luke Henige, Dillan Morell, Haley Vincke, and Madison Wheeler; from Ovid Elsie: Koralyn Bailie, Wyatt Wilcox, and Dominic Wilkinson; from Owosso:  Kendall Anderson, Ellie Feldpausch, Aaron Jafri, Jillian Klaver, Joseph Marcotte, Jack Smith, and Kyra Waldner; and from Perry:  Elyse Bawks, Grace O’Neill, and Lillian Warren. 

This is the seventeenth year of the Bruce and Jacqueline Cook scholarship, which is funded entirely by its namesakes.  Past recipients of the Bruce and Jackie Cook Scholarship have included Elizabeth Tolrud from Owosso in 2021, Mason Collard from Owosso and Kyah Ribble from Perry in 2020, Autumn Zwiernik from Laingsburg in 2019, Tyson Moore from Corunna in 2018, Elizabeth Hoornstra from Chesaning in 2017, Mitchell Lawrence from Byron in 2016, Nick Miller from Laingsburg in 2015, Nolan Wendling from New Lothrop in 2014, Emily Feuka from Perry in 2013, Sam Whaley from Perry in 2012, Adam Stewart from Laingsburg in 2011, Valerie Foster (Micol) from Byron in 2010, Adam Dingens from Corunna in 2009, Randy Piper from Owosso in 2008, Dan Frechtling from Perry in 2007 and Kendra Frye of Owosso in 2006.