Each year, the Civil Service (CS) and Administrative/Professional (A/P) councils provide numerous scholarships to help offset the cost of college.

One of last year’s winners, Peris Story, put her scholarship dollars to work fulfilling a core value of Illinois State University—civic engagement. “With some of this money I was able to travel to alternative spring break and serve at a respite camp in Texas,” she said.

A freshman elementary education major at Illinois State, Peris is daughter of Kara and Derek Story. She earned both a CS and an A/P scholarship for the 2017-2018 school year. “These scholarships present opportunities for families who are in need of financial support to send their kids to an excellent university,” said Kara Story, a Civil Service employee at Thomas Metcalf School. “The financial support eases stress about how payments will be made.”

Derek Story, an A/P employee from Human Resources, noted the scholarships are one of the ways Illinois State honors members of the Redbird family. “It is truly a blessing to work at a University that recognizes service from employees and rewards that with additional financial support for children and families to obtain the tremendous educational opportunities that ISU offers,” he said. The Story family has four additional children who plan to apply for the scholarships.

Applications for scholarships—as well as ways to support those scholarships—are available on the CS website and the A/P website.