At the Graduation Ceremony, five students received scholarships from the Education Foundation on behalf of their sponsors. The Foundation serves as a conduit between individuals and businesses who want to provide a scholarship and the process to do so. This year, three families funded five scholarships that were awarded.

The William Zbinden Memorial Scholarship was awarded to Lauryn Hamrick and Dierks Neukomm. Born, raised, and graduated from Cissna Park High School in 1956, Bill Zbinden earned a Doctorate in Education from the University of Illinois, and as part of his career, led the statewide implementation of Title 1 Special Education programs across Illinois. It was this dedication to public education that his family decided to establish a scholarship for a male and female graduates in his honor.

The Michael Gorman Memorial Scholarship was presented to Addison Tipsord and Trent Schmid. Michael Gorman was a 2001 graduate of Cissna Park High School. Despite the obstacles of his Muscular Dystrophy, Michael became class valedictorian, a graduate of the University of Illinois, and had a successful career with an insurance firm. In 2019, Michael passed away from complications of his disease. In his honor, the Gorman family provides a Scholarship to a male and female graduate here at Cissna Park High School.

The Jeff Mauer Memorial Scholarship was awarded to Josie Neukomm. In honor of Cissna Park’s former principal, Jeff Mauer, the Maurer family established a scholarship funded by donations made in his memory. Jeff spent his entire 34-year career in public education, first teaching at Crescent City for 16 years, where he also served as athletic director, assistant principal, and counselor. He was also the assistant high school boys basketball coach for 13 years and the junior high girls basketball coach for one year. Then Jeff served as junior/senior high school principal at Cissna Park for 17 years, from 1992 to 2009, until his retirement.

If your business or family would like to consider giving a scholarship at Cissna Park, please feel free to reach out to John Bruns, the Foundation’s Scholarship coordinator.