Twenty Davenport, Iowa high school seniors receive John Deere Scholarships
May is graduation season and with that comes feelings of accomplishment and anticipation. The thought of what’s next also can bring anxiety and financial worry.
But there is one thing that offsets much of that. Opportunity.
At the May 13 John Deere Scholars event held at John Deere’s World Headquarters, opportunity was on full display as the inaugural program celebrated the selection of 20 graduating high school seniors who will be the first class of John Deere Scholars.
In hearing from the students one theme rang clear, without these scholarships a similar path toward a higher education may not have been available.
“This is the biggest defining thing for my future,” Benie Toko, senior from Davenport Central High School, said. “Because for as long as I can remember, I’ve had it all planned out. I’d go to college, graduate, get a job, and start my career. But at some point last year my parents sat me down and said, ‘You might need to reevaluate your plans because college is a big financial burden.’ That’s when the idea of the military came up. But then the John Deere scholarship came along and that opened up the pathway that I had planned out perfectly. It brought it into reality.”
The John Deere Scholars program is a first-of-its-kind partnership between the University of Iowa (UI), the Davenport Community School District (DCSD), and the John Deere Foundation and will provide $6.6 million to need-based (low- to middle-income) high school seniors in the district.
The program’s goal is to create a pipeline that prepares DCSD students for a college education at the University of Iowa. The program includes academic, financial, and social support for 60 students over the next three years. Scholarships will cover 90% of the total cost to attend the university and will be provided all four years of the student’s education as long as they remain enrolled and in good standing.
Beginning with the 2024-2025 school year, 20 scholarships were awarded at the May 13 event, allowing graduating seniors the opportunity to begin their academic careers at UI in the fall of 2025. Additional focus of the program will include educational and leadership experiences to help those students in a global society and at a global company like Deere.
The scholars program aligns with the Foundation’s 2021 pledge to invest in educational opportunities that would reach 1 million youth in John Deere home communities by 2030. Over the past decade the foundation has invested nearly $14 million in K-12 educational programs.
In addition, 44 Deere employees signed up to be mentors for the students.
Cunell Burrage, a senior at Davenport North High School who plans to major in business, described the scholarship’s impact on his family’s peace of mind, “It has relieved a lot of stress financially and mentally. Parents always wonder and worry about what the future will be like for their child. This helps answer that and that brings a sense of security to them. I’ve been joking with them, saying ‘We can finally sleep at night.’”
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