SIUE’s Koester and McClellan Receive Hammonds Scholarship from Mathews-Dickey
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville seniors Emily Koester and Kimberly McClellan have received the Dr. Cleveland Hammonds Jr. Memorial Scholarship for 2015-2016. On Thursday, Jan. 28, the students met with Mrs. Yvonne Hammonds, widow of Dr. Hammonds, at the Mathews-Dickey Boys’ and Girls’ Club of St. Louis.
Koester and McClellan each received $1,000 in memory of Hammonds, a former SIUE instructor and past superintendent of the St. Louis Public Schools. They are in the Teacher Education program within SIUE’s School of Education, Health and Human Behavior. Hammonds also served as education chair of the Mathews-Dickey board prior to his death in 2010.
The annual scholarship was established in 2012 for undergraduates in SIUE’s Teacher Education program. Selection is based on need, desire, academic achievement and community service.
“Kimberly and Emily exemplify qualities valued by Dr. Hammonds,” said Laurel Puchner, PhD and chair of SIUE’s Department of Educational Leadership. “Kimberly is dedicated to working to improve the lives of black and Hispanic youth and families, especially those who are economically disadvantaged and who have disabilities. Emily is determined to use foreign language teaching as a way to help students learn to understand others who are linguistically and culturally different from them.”
Koester, of Tolono, is majoring in secondary French education and plans to teach French at a middle school or high school.
East St. Louis native McClellan is majoring in early childhood education. Upon graduation, she plans to continue to teach young children and to advocate for families of children with brain disorders and mental health challenges.
The Mathews-Dickey Boys’ and Girls’ Club was founded in 1960 to provide structured recreational services to youths in North St. Louis. Today, the club serves more than 40,000 young men and women, ages 5-18, throughout the St. Louis metropolitan region.
For more information, contact Puchner at 618-650-3286 or lpuchne@siue.edu.
Photo (L-R): Laurel Puchner, chair of the SIUE Department of Educational Leadership; Kimberly McClellan; Yvonne Hammonds; Martin Mathews, emeritus president and co-founder of the Mathews-Dickey Boys’ and Girls’ Club; and Emily Koester.
