The selection committee for the Herb Kohl Educational Foundation Scholarship, Fellowship, and Leadership Program announced Wednesday, April 6 the recipients of the 2022 Herb Kohl Foundation awards for students, teachers, and principals.

Each student will receive a $10,000 scholarship, and each teacher and principal will receive a $6,000 award. A matching $6,000 award will be given to each teacher’s and principal’s school. 291 awards have been announced.

The Mineral Point Unified School District is proud to report that Cindi Nothem, High School Math Teacher, has been named a winner of the Teacher Fellowship, and Mineral Point High School Senior Callie Pierce has been named an Excellence Scholar.

Fellowship recipients are educators who have been chosen for their superior ability to inspire a love of learning in their students, their ability to motivate others, and their leadership and service within and outside the classroom.

Student Excellence Scholarship recipients have demonstrated excellence in the academic arena and high motivation to achieve, have displayed a broad range of activity and leadership outside the academic setting, and have shown strong promise for succeeding in college and beyond.

The Kohl Foundation award program was established by Herb Kohl, philanthropist, and businessman. Since 1990, the foundation has awarded more than $28.3 million to Wisconsin educators, principals, students, and schools. “Education is the key to the future of Wisconsin and our nation,” Kohl said. “I am very proud of the accomplishments of these students, teachers, and principals and look forward to the great contributions they will make in the future.”

Past Mineral Point recipients of the Herb Kohl awards at the state level include:

  • Student Excellence: Marsha Bingham, 1991; Christopher Marr, 2004; Cody Pierce, 2020.
  • Student Initiative: Sarah Janke, 2002; Cory Sokol, 2005; Sierra Gunderson, 2011; Ireln King, 2018.
  • Teacher Fellowship: Bonnie Laverty, 1997; Matt Nevers, 2017; Kris McCoy, 2018; Micki Uppena, 2020.
  • Principal Leadership: Matt Renwick, 2021.

Congrats, also, to Denise Gorgen, 2nd Grade Teacher, whose application was advanced to the State level for consideration this year.

(Nothem photo by Empire Photography, Pierce photo by Lifka Bennett)