William & Susan Pence Elementary Education

In October 2015, Bill and Sue Pence established the William and Susan Pence Elementary Education Scholarship through the Winona State University Foundation. The purpose of the fund is to encourage and support elementary education students who demonstrate a passion and talent for teaching which extends beyond the classroom.

Criteria

1. Each recipient must be an undergraduate enrolled full-time (minimum 12 credits per semester) and in good standing at Winona State University.
2. Each recipient must have a declared major in Elementary Education
3. Each recipient must be accepted into the Teacher Education Program in the College of Education
4. Each recipient must have a GPA of 2.75 or higher (4.0 = A).
5. Each recipient must demonstrate financial need; however, financial need will not be based solely on FAFSA. Preference will be given to a student who is working their way through college.

Biography/Motivation

Bill and Sue both graduated from Winona State in 1968; Bill with a double major in Math and Physics and Sue with a degree in Elementary Education. Following four-plus years in the Navy during the Vietnam conflict, Bill went on to a career with IBM Corporation in Sales and Strategic Planning. Sue completed sixteen years as a first grade teacher after a very successful stay-at-home Mom career raising their two daughters.

Because Sue was an extremely caring and patient teacher, who helped her young students develop skills that stayed with them though out their lives. We both agree that helping future Elementary teachers to follow in Sue’s footsteps is one of the most valuable contributions we can make during our lifetimes.