Invest in Rural Iowa Scholar Aims to Strengthen Rural Communities Through Instruction
Future teacher uses Storm Lake summer school experience as a springboard to her career in serving an area elementary school.
Megan Morenz took a Zoom call in the summer of 2020 with representatives from Admissions at Buena Vista University. She heard Director Conner Ellinghuysen detail an initiative called the Invest in Rural Iowa Scholarship.
Ellinghuysen indicated Morenz wouldn’t have to write an essay for the scholarship or fill out a lengthy application. In fact, he said, Morenz had already qualified and earned the $5,000 annual renewable scholarship.
Her reaction was one of, “Wait? What?”
“Congratulations, Megan,” Ellinghuysen continued, “you’ve earned it.”
Morenz, a sophomore elementary education major, remembers feeling stunned, in a good way. She remembers crying tears of joy.
“It’s been very helpful,” she now says of the award, one of 15 presented that year. An additional 15 freshmen earned the Invest in Rural Iowa Scholarship this fall. Morenz, and her group of freshmen in 2020, saw their award renewed. By the time Morenz is a senior, there will be a few dozen BVU students on campus who have been presented with the Invest in Rural Iowa Scholarship, an initiative that emerged from a $1 million gift from a benefactor who sought to make a difference in the lives of Northwest Iowa students who would study at BVU and go on to make an impact in their community.
“I want to teach here locally after I graduate. I like the family/community relationships you can build in small districts.”
Megan Morenz
This scholarship is one of several at BVU rewarding students while reducing student loans. The Inspiring Achievement Grant, announced Oct. 20, uses an $830,000 gift from a benefactor for the purpose of reducing debt through academic grants for rising BVU juniors and seniors from the Midwest on the Storm Lake campus who qualify. The Clausen Family Education for Service award is responsible for the tuition costs for dozens of first-generation college students from Buena Vista County who attend BVU. Those scholarship recipients pay it forward by contributing 300 hours of community service annually through AmeriCorps.
Those scholarships, grants, and other awards are key reasons why U.S. News & World Report rated BVU No. 6 of 71 institutions in the Best Value Schools Among Regional Universities in the Midwest category. The University provides nearly $18 million in student financial assistance out of its annual budget. Three-quarters of BVU financial aid comes in the form of grants and scholarships—money that doesn’t need to be repaid.
Morenz, who says she’s thankful for the Invest in Rural Iowa Scholarship, pledges to make a difference in her community, something she’s already demonstrated. She spent one month this summer teaching third-grade students in the Storm Lake Community School District, helping make possible a joint effort between BVU and the local schools in closing learning and socioeconomic gaps caused by a disruption in routine brought on by COVID-19.
“When I came to BVU, I started out as an elementary education major,” says Morenz, who hails from Newell. “I switched to secondary education during my freshman year. I’ve now switched back to elementary education. The relationships I built with third-grade students while teaching them during summer school solidified where I wanted to be.”
The fourth of six children, Morenz seeks to be the first educator in her family. A member of Teachers Inc. on campus, Morenz, a Dean’s List student, is readying for a course next semester that will return her to local classrooms. She previously spent hours observing in Storm Lake and in the Sioux Central Community School District.
“I want to teach here locally after I graduate,” she says. “I like the family/community relationships you can build in small districts.”
The investment a BVU benefactor made in her education will be more than repaid as a dedicated student one day becomes a teacher seeking and drawing out the best in her students in their rural community.
“The School of Education is a main reason I chose BVU,” Morenz says. “Having the Invest in Rural Iowa Scholarship has been very helpful.”