SAPPINGTON, Mo. — The Lindbergh Schools Foundation recently received a check in the mail that will change the lives of students pursuing careers in education beyond graduation for years.
Alexis Gralike, a senior at Lindbergh High School, is the first one to benefit from the money.
Gralike has already gotten a head start on her career in teaching, having taken cadet teaching and now working at the school's Early Childhood Education Center.
"As I grew up I got a little bit worried, like money-wise, but then I just still, I loved being with the kids. Working with the kids. I just knew I wanted to be a teacher."
On Wednesday, Gralike was named the recipient of a gift that will take off that burden: The Dr. Mary Louise Zieger Scholarship.
That check that Executive Director Erica Keating with the Lindbergh Schools Foundation opened was from former teacher and administrator Dr. Mary Louise Zieger.
"When she passed away, she left a third of her estate, which was $1.7 million, to the Lindbergh school foundation with very strict instructions that the interest earned every year is given to a student who is going to go into education," Keating said.
Keating described the late teacher as a "quiet force" who had divvied up her inheritance to support causes across the community.
The $56,000, four-year scholarship will be awarded each year to a Lindbergh High School senior.
"It's really cool that (Zieger) had that dedication. And I think that's really amazing. and I want to continue that when I start teaching and I want to give back to the community," Gralike said.
"I will have to pay very little for college now and I won't have to take out a bunch of student loans and be in debt my whole life."
Keating noted that Gralike and other recipients must maintain a 3.0 GPA and stay enrolled.
This year, the Foundation will award 93 various scholarships, totaling more than $175,000 for Lindbergh High School seniors.