Carie Shinn of rural Wheeler is the recipient of the Jasper County Retired Teachers’ $1500 scholarship. Carie was chosen from a number of excellent candidates based on her unwavering desire to become an educator, her work ethic, and her exceptionally long path taken to achieve her goal.
Graduating in 1995 from Newton Community High School, she later became a stay-at-home mom of four and home-schooled for eighteen years while taking a few college courses along the way. She began working as a substitute teacher and was later employed as a paraprofessional in the local school district. She joined the local special education cohort and resumed her college education in the spring of 2020. At the time of her application, Carie was working one full-time job, two different after-school programs, and doing Saturday school rotation when it was offered in order to pay for her tuition and care for two children still at home.
Carrying a 3.59 GPA, Carie will be a senior in Special Education this fall at Eastern Illinois University. As she said in her personal statement her “path to becoming an educator has been a long one.”
The Scholarship committee thanks all who applied for the 2022 scholarship. All applications were read, studied, and evaluated with one candidate finally receiving the unanimous approval of all those involved. Scholarships are awarded annually to one NCHS graduate who is a college junior or senior education major. Applicants may reapply.
