Philanthropy Today
Philanthropy Today
Philanthropy Today Gateway to Giving GMCF Scholarship Stories (Jason & Jill Selland and Trey Lockwood) - Episode 174
Today, we talked with Jason & Jill Selland and Trey Lockwood about the inspiration behind establishing a scholarship to honor influential educators Jay Logan and Larry Potroff and discover how these teachers shaped the Sellands' lives and inspired them to give back to their community. Jason & Jill share touching stories of past recipients who have gone on to positively impact their communities, including a passionate horticulturist who returned to inspire current students. They also reflect on their own educational experiences, emphasizing the empowering effect of community support and mentorship. Trey Lockwood provides his perspective as a recent scholarship recipient, offering a glimpse into the real-world impact of the Potroff-Logan Scholarship. In this episode, we navigate the journey of creating a scholarship promoting vocational education in South Brown County. Hear about the challenges and successes faced along the way and the pivotal role played by the South Brown Community Foundation.
Welcome to Philanthropy Today. We are excited to share information on ways you can support the charitable causes of your choice. My name is Mitzi Richards and I look forward to being with you today on our GMCF Philanthropy Today podcast series. Today, our topic is the impact of scholarship in our series Gateway to Giving GMCF Scholarship Stories. Gateway to Giving GMCF Scholarship Stories. Welcome to Philanthropy Today. Today, with my colleague, ivy Stone, the Executive Director of the South Brown Community Foundation, we are recording today's episode of Gateway to Giving GMCF Scholarship Stories in our office in downtown Manhattan, kansas. Together with our guests, we will highlight the transformative power of scholarships. Ivy, let's begin by introducing our guests.
Speaker 2:We will highlight the transformative power of scholarships Ivy. Let's begin by introducing our guests. Thank you, mitzi. Today we are honored to have Jill and Jason Sulland with us to discuss the Potroff Logan Scholarship. We are also joined by Trey Lockwood, a recipient of the scholarship. Jill and Jason, would you please introduce yourselves?
Speaker 3:I'm Jill Sulland. I am a graduate of Horton High School, the South Brown County School District, and now am a teacher in the district, as well as a community member and a parent. We have four children that are currently in the district and we just really enjoy our community and finding ways to be involved and to give back.
Speaker 4:Yeah, Jason Sulland, also alumni of South Brown County in Horton. While Jill teaches, I'm not in the classroom, but I do serve on the school board for USD 430. Give back in that way. So we're both very involved in the district and the community and just excited to be here and visit with you today.
Speaker 2:Really glad to have you, Trey. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
Speaker 5:Yeah, I'm Trey Lockwood. I graduated in 2022 from Horton High School in South Brown County, usg 430, and I went to college for two years at Maryville, northwest Missouri State University and got a farm management certificate. And I'm back in the community hoping to help serve and return all the things that they served me. Thank you, hoping to help serve and return all the things that they served me.
Speaker 2:Thank you.
Speaker 1:Well, let's get started. These are pretty important questions. Jill and Jason, thank you again for joining us today. Tell us a little bit about the origin and purpose of the Potroff-Logan Scholarship. All right?
Speaker 3:Nancy, the idea for the scholarship is something Jason and I had talked about for a long time.
Speaker 3:Both teachers, Jay Logan and Larry Potroff had been really impactful in our personal stories in classes we took in high school and had different impacts on kind of our careers. And then, as we returned to South Byron County and decided to raise our children here, my first year back in the classroom in the Horton School District was actually going to be the last year that both of these teachers would be teaching. So it was really exciting for me to get that opportunity to be a colleague to teachers that I had looked up to and respected, and we really talked about this idea for a long time, wanting to do something to recognize both of them and their impact on not just ourselves both of them and their impact on not just ourselves but so many community members, so many of our peers that were now adults and being involved in the community. We knew they'd had such a huge impact on them and so we were really looking for a way to give back and to recognize them.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I agree, both Mr Potrop and Mr Logan had tremendous impact on a lot of students, but I think both of us in different ways, personally were impacted as a first-generation college student. Both of these men were instrumental in making that happen. I had no intentions of attending college and they both kind of supported and promoted that to me as something that was a possibility, and then was thankful for that support and explored that and ended up pursuing a college degree. As far as the origin of the scholarship, like Jill said, this has been a discussion for years for us on how to honor these two men and the timing lined up. At the same time they retired together in the same year. At the same time they retired together in the same year and we realized that was probably our opportunity to put something together to kind of honor their legacy and everything that they had done for our community and our students.
Speaker 4:So we had started on that path of exploring what does a scholarship look like and really were met with some obstacles.
Speaker 4:And it just so happened that right about that same time, I think the Horton Community Foundation was trying to get put together and I think Vern come to town and I attended a meeting and realized that this was our path, put this scholarship together and realized we went from not sure we can do this to fully supported by the foundation and empowered to make this happen.
Speaker 4:And so from that point it's been really easy and we were able to move forward and create this scholarship that honors these two men and their families, actually, and all of the work and sacrifice that they gave to our community and our students. And the scholarship also provides, you know, funding opportunities for students to attend Bowtech in college. Then, finally, one of the things that was important to us is that the scholarship promotes, you know, cte classes to our students. So in order to qualify for the scholarship, the students have to have completed two semesters of classes in high school that we call shop classes and that could be animal science or horticulture or actually, you know know, wood shop or metal shop. But we really put a lot of time and thought into the structure of the scholarship to promote all of those things. That's how it originated.
Speaker 1:Wow, that's such an exciting story. I can just see Mr Potroff and Mr Logan. When you told them Was anything you can share about that?
Speaker 4:They're both very humble people and they don't seek attention on themselves. But I think they understand you know the impact that they have on students. They clearly for decades taught together. They clearly have a love for education and students and it's our hope that you know that they feel appreciated through this gesture.
Speaker 3:I think one of the most important things for Jason and I in putting this into action was that we didn't want it to be just ours.
Speaker 3:We didn't want it to be our scholarship, and that's one place that the Community Foundation has been such a great resource in really making it belong to all of South Brown County. Wow has been such a great resource in really making it belong to all of South Brown County and I hope and I do believe that for both Mr Potroff and Mr Logan that that was immediately seen, that it wasn't just two alumni saying we want to give back, but we know that we want to and we know that there are so many others in our community that feel the same way and that has happened. We've had so many contributions and from both former students, a lot of the people that have given to this scholarship are the parents of those former students. That, and as a parent myself, I think that's just really impactful. When you say you know, you can see how much someone else's time and investment impacted your own child and the value there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that is so great. So obviously this scholarship is impacting your community pride, making a difference in the lives of proud residents because they see the value that it is provided for their own children. Any other ways that you see this has impacted the community now or in the future.
Speaker 3:The student impact. For us, I think it's been really important. South Brown County doesn't have a lot of scholarship opportunities and I think that's one thing that we're trying to help improve and to make sure all of our students know not only the scholarship opportunities that are available locally, but looking beyond that as well. So I think it was really great to have one more thing that is just for our students and helping those students like Trey seek secondary education. We're really proud of the students that have already received this scholarship.
Speaker 3:We've had two recipients each year and they've all gone on. Some of them have completed their programs. One of our first students is she completed her college education earlier this year and is working in a minor league baseball field in Nebraska, really went on to college and found her passion and has come back to our high school and shared with our students about how that collegiate experience worked out for her finding her passion. So just knowing that you get to be a little small bit of that is really exciting. And planting that seed and hopefully watching it grow throughout our community, that's great.
Speaker 2:Well, my question was going to be can you share some of those stories? No, no, it's good, because I know there's more. Can you share some of those impactful stories, outcomes, that have emerged from the scholarship you just shared about the young lady that went away and baseball?
Speaker 3:She majored in horticulture, specializing in grass, really came to K-State and found her passion in grass and when she came back and presented at the school it was just so awesome to talk about how she got there. We have several other graduates that went the vocational route and already have completed their programs and are returned to our community. Trey went to the college level, has also completed his education and has returned, so it's just exciting to start to see these kids come back and I think that also really starts to help other. Our current high school students see that opportunity when they can associate those opportunities with going out, helping you meet your own personal goals and then returning or going, you know, going beyond. For both Jason and I we did not immediately come back to South Brown County. We don't. You know, we want everyone to go and do their own thing and if we're lucky they come back in the end.
Speaker 4:I think it's. You know, jill, and I tell people all the time, you know, we choose South Brown County. We both came to school here in Manhattan and we chose to live there and made an effort to move back there. Live there and made an effort to move back there and I think that's part of this too is the appeal of you know, we feel like we can be ambassadors to our community and say, hey, here's an opportunity to help you go and do school. You know, vo-tech college, whatever that is. Know that there's opportunities here to come back and be a part of our community too. So that's. Another aspect of the outcome of this is that community outreach piece. It's a pleasure. Every year we get to award the scholarship at our high school awards night and be a part of all the scholarships that are awarded that night, and it's always just a real honor, I guess, to interact with the students that evening and be a part of the team that is helping send them off to do big things after high school graduation.
Speaker 2:It's wonderful, that's wonderful. So, when you look years down the road, what are your long-term goals for the scholarship?
Speaker 4:Yeah, I think just to continue to provide opportunities for our students.
Speaker 4:We have so many good kids in our community and, just like I just said, we want to empower them to go out into the world and explore and find their passion and for some of that, for some of those students, that means they don't come back to our community, and that's okay.
Speaker 4:They're contributing somehow. For some of those students they do come back and we hope that they come back and feel compelled to give back to the community in some way. The other thing that we like to see is just promoting growth in our community through match day and other foundation activities as well as, like our awards night at the school. You know, we get to present to the public that we all have all of these wonderful things going on within our school and our community and that has really stirred a lot of community support for a lot of the scholarship opportunities. So we just want to continue to help build that bridge of that partnership between our community members and our businesses and our students that we're preparing to send out into the world, and I think this is a small piece of that puzzle.
Speaker 1:Jason, you just did such a great job of helping probably answer a little bit about this next question I have for you both to think about. But what's inspirational for you? I mean, it sounds like I love the way you say we choose Brown County because there's such a difference between feeling like that's a place that you choose to make your life for yourself and your children, as opposed to we just are stuck here and that alone, I think, is such an inspiration to people. But as you think about how you continue to invest, whether it's in education or community service, what do you see this scholarship seed? How do you see it growing?
Speaker 4:That's an interesting question.
Speaker 3:I think for myself it does go back to. You know, jason and I both we were fortunate that we are from the same community and we did live somewhere else and chose to come back, and for both of us, education I guess at this time in our lives you know we're kind of middle-aged I guess at this time in our lives you know we're kind of middle-aged really can see the value of education and the opportunities it gave us. Like Jason spoke earlier, he is a first generation college student. I always knew that I was going to go to college. What I was going to do and what I am doing are two different things and that's okay, that's all right for our students too. But to know that that education, I was greatly impacted.
Speaker 3:I received many scholarships within our community when I left Horton High School and I really that felt very empowering to me that someone else not just my parents, not just my teachers, but somebody else believed in me and they were investing in me on to do great things and to feel not really an obligation but an opportunity to give back. Early on I assumed that that would be within my career, that I would be giving back by what I do, and it's exciting to know that, especially with the help of the Community Foundation, you don't have to be, you know, later down in life or have accumulated great wealth to start giving back, and that's something that's been really exciting for me to be still in my teaching years, still in my parenting years and being active in giving and helping others. See that, you know, we can all contribute in a positive way.
Speaker 4:Yeah, yeah, and I think for me. You know I definitely have a passion for education, but it's a different way. So Jill's an educator to the core. I mean she is your, your quintessential educator. I'm cut from a different fabric but I still love to see kids succeed and I love probably my passion is helping those kids find a connection to business partners or industry so that they can explore solution or explore career opportunities before they venture out into that post-secondary education.
Speaker 4:So you know I give back through my time on school board. I found my way into the Board of Education boardroom in a very unique way about 10 years ago. I never would have expected to find myself there, but I've found that it's something I really enjoy doing. So I give back in that way. I mean I do spend a lot of time visiting with high school, middle school and high school kids just about different opportunities that are out there and helping them to kind of take a broader perspective on the world around them. You know it's fun to visit with a kid and just pick any object and say you know how do you think that got made and then talk about all the careers that might be attached to just a simple object that they encounter every day Help kind of broaden their mindset a little bit about opportunities that are ahead of them.
Speaker 1:Wow, yeah, that's huge societal impact and maybe offline I can learn more about 10 years ago. What got you in into a board leadership or share if you're happy to share.
Speaker 4:Okay, good, we had so I remember we were in the backyard just working on something and a lady we've known our entire life I mean she's babysitting me, right. I mean I'm a lady you know, we've just known forever just just pulled up to the house and, with just a little bit of small talk, um just said, hey, I, I have to resign from my school board position. And, uh, you're going to go, you're going to go on, you're going to apply for this position. And I said, well, I'm not really sure.
Speaker 2:I agree with that.
Speaker 4:But you know and again, this is very much in line with my experience with Mr Potroff and Mr Logan that's a lot. That's very similar to how the college discussion went. They both said you need to go explore this and I said I'm not sure that's something that's for me, and they said, no, it is.
Speaker 3:And they were right.
Speaker 4:I will say that those two gentlemen spent years building a relationship with me and had the trust level to the place where they could literally walk into the room that day and say we feel this is best for you. And they had built such trust with me that that completely changed course of what I had planned for my life. So that's the kind of educators they were. They built that kind of relationship with a student and so, in the same way, this neighbor you know, a high trust level.
Speaker 4:She said this is what the school needs, this is what we need. And I said I'm willing to give that a try. So totally new to that experience at that time, Got on with a great group of board members who were supportive, and I learned a ton over the years. And so then continue to serve. I think this is my third term on that school board today, so I can enjoy doing it.
Speaker 1:That's awesome. That's what trust does, right.
Speaker 3:It does.
Speaker 1:It's the example that you're like. How can I say no?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I can't, and I think that that's just one more way. Like to me, that's what these scholarship opportunities are all about. It's just another opportunity. My association with Larry, mr Potroff and Mr Logan was a comment that was frequently told to me was close no doors, and so for a while, part of this name the official name of this scholarship is the Shop Doors Scholarship, because we really felt, jason and I, that those shop doors opened so many opportunities for our students and they still do. But also just that idea that close no doors because you really don't know when you are leaving high school what opportunities are out there for you really don't know, when you are leaving high school, what opportunities are out there for you. So we hope that we can also encourage these students, whether they receive this scholarship or not, to be open to all the possibilities that are out there for them.
Speaker 2:Well, Trey, it's wonderful to have you here. Can you tell us how receiving the Potroff Logan Scholarship has made a difference in your life and in your education?
Speaker 5:Yeah, I think the word stress reliever really comes to mind. I mean just the opportunity to focus more on my education instead of worrying about how I was going to support myself through that journey. And that money, you know whether it was used on food or straight towards books and funds for classes. It was a stress reliever, just not to have to worry about it. You know, it was just one more avenue that I didn't have to worry about going down and that is really what you know helped me through.
Speaker 5:That's what scholarship is supposed to do. You know, one step at a time, and your community coming behind you.
Speaker 2:Can I ask you guys how he was chosen?
Speaker 4:Yeah. So the scholarship, there's a committee, there's a selection committee and the application and again thanks to the foundation, we have a really great structure for the scholarship. There's an application process. It's it's short form answer, um, and it really focuses around what were your experiences in in the shop. And I need to clarify when we say shop, there's a classroom there. So that's horticulture, animal science, it's not just you know fabrication with your hands, but of those classes, you know what did you like?
Speaker 4:I think one of the questions is please give an example of when you've used something you've learned in this environment you know outside, like at home or within your community, how do you plan to use what you've learned in the shop once you've graduated? And so, based on those answers, as well as what their plans are going forward, whether that's vocational or college or just career path the selection committee reviews that and then they select two recipients based on the answers of their application.
Speaker 2:Awesome. Well, that's wonderful. And I will also say, since I was a part of our school district for a few years, trey was in my what we would call homeroom our generation would call homeroom, we call SEL, and Trey was always very positive, always spoke to everybody, treated everybody with respect and whenever he would leave my classroom he would always say have a quality day. That's something that I always remembered about him. And so, getting back to you, trey, what inspired you to apply for the scholarship and what did it mean to you to receive?
Speaker 5:it my early years when my father would tell stories about what Mr Potroff and him had shook up in high school, because I was lucky enough to have the same set of shop teachers that my father and my mother both had, as well as Jason, jill and Ivy, and just to be a part of that culture. I guess is really what it is. The South Brown County shop is truly a wonderful place and I actually spent most of my junior and senior year in the shop, probably against Jill's greater preferences, but you couldn't get me out of that place. It was truly my happy place. And to apply for that scholarship and I just thoroughly enjoy working with my hands and it just was very meaningful to apply and win that scholarship or be awarded that scholarship and just hope to give back like I was given to, was very meaningful. To apply and win that scholarship or be awarded that scholarship and just hope to give back like I was given to.
Speaker 2:Very good. And you graduated from high school in what year?
Speaker 5:I graduated in 2022.
Speaker 2:Okay, great. And how do you plan to use your education to give back to your community?
Speaker 5:I think right now it's more of just being an advocate. You know, I would have never dreamed I went to college. I was more of a, like I said, hands-on learner. I was thinking more of a technical program and I had some people in my life, including mr potroff and jill selender next to me, that, um, it's like you know, why don't you actually attempt to? You know, push yourself a little more and maybe take that extra step and go to an actual university and do some more book work and I'm not one that enjoys a pencil or a computer for that matter.
Speaker 5:But I was glad I listened to them and I just hope to answer questions. And when kids, you know, come to me, high schoolers now, and ask about whether they should go to college or not, or technical school, I mean, both are, of course, good, but those connections you make, your network grows so much when you go to secondary education and, as Jason once told me, the bigger your network is, the easier you have a life, because you know when you can make a phone call and get three questions answered, that's three less questions you have to worry about or ponder on for all day. So, just being an advocate right now and hopefully eventually being able to donate back to this scholarship through the South Brown County Community Foundation.
Speaker 4:I would just add real quick what an asset someone like Trey is to have back in your community. You know a fresh graduate out of college and so with Jill being in the classroom, especially in the high school when she has kids that have questions, I mean we obviously have resources in the building with teachers and counselors, but it's so easy just to call Trey and have him come in or just give the kids the contact info and I think there's some real authenticity to getting answers from someone in Trey's position for a student who's just ready to set out on their college or their Votek journey. So huge asset to have someone like him back in our community protect journey.
Speaker 1:So huge asset to have someone like him back in our community. Absolutely Such great example. Whether it's a teacher you've trusted for years or someone who's not that much older than you who comes back, you know it's it's trust in in at both levels, that really makes a difference. Well, I am I'm sure our listeners are going to be very inspired, because I certainly am. I want to thank you all, jill, jason and Trey, for sharing your insights and stories with us today and, to conclude, we want to invite our listeners to know how they can give to this scholarship.
Speaker 2:Absolutely so. If you would like to give to the Potroff Logan Scholarship, you can go to growselfbrowncom and there you'll find a list of all of our funds. So you'll find potch off logan scholarship. You'll find that on grow south browncom. Um, just click on it and then you'll be prompted as how to get thank you.
Speaker 1:Ivy contributions do help sustain this important initiative and make a lasting difference in the lives of its beneficiaries. So, once again, thank you all for listening and thank you for being our guest today. Thank you for having us.
Speaker 5:Thank you.
Speaker 1:Thank you for joining us today where we look inside the Greater Manhattan Community Foundation. You can always learn more about GMCF at our website, mcfksorg. We invite you to subscribe to Philanthropy Today. Wherever you get your podcasts, I'm Mitzi Richards and have enjoyed hosting our Gateway to Giving GMCF Scholarship Stories series in the Ad Astra Cast Studios here in downtown Manhattan, Kansas.