McKibbin ’24 Receives Strong Scholarship

Shenandoah University education student Mairead McKibbin ’24 is the recipient of a Hattie M. Strong Foundation Scholarship to help defray costs incurred during student teaching. 

The $5,000 scholarships are awarded to “reduce financial pressure during the student-teaching semester, when a student’s ability to offset expenses with outside employment is curtailed by the rigor of full-time work in the classroom,” according to the HMSF website. The scholarship recipients, who are candidates for initial teacher licensure, are commonly known as Strong Scholars. 

McKibbin, who will graduate in December, is studying to be a K-12 health and physical education teacher. Her student teaching has taken her to an elementary school in the city of Winchester, Virginia, and a secondary school in Frederick County, Virginia. 

“My goal is to cultivate a passion for learning and enrich a growth mindset in each individual,” McKibbin said in her scholarship application. “I want my students to view challenges as an opportunity to grow.” In addition to being an education student, McKibbin is a member of the Shenandoah University field hockey team that won the ODAC championship this season. 

Strong Scholars must be: 

• Undergraduate students who have exhibited outstanding success and enthusiasm in field experience prior to the final year of the program or graduate students whose life experiences prior to enrollment reveal the same traits.
• Students with demonstrated financial need.
• Students who have achieved a minimum 3.0 GPA in the two semesters prior to their final year.

The funds for the scholarships “are distributed via partnership with twenty-four institutions, all located near Washington, D.C., that have demonstrated leadership in preparing outstanding classroom teachers,” the HSMF website states.