July 8, 2011
Fourth Year for Prairie Trail Scholarship Fund
(ANKENY, IOWA) – Seven Ankeny Prairie Trail residents have been selected as Prairie Trail scholarships winners.
The Prairie Trail Scholarship Program, started by Prairie Trail community developer and lifetime Ankeny resident Dennis Albaugh, provides funds for residents of Prairie Trail to pursue higher education degrees.
Four students are receiving $2,500 scholarships. They include: Courtney Ryan, a recent elementary education graduate of Iowa State University who is now pursuing a degree in nutrition; Jonathan Dahlman, a junior accounting and finance major at the University of Iowa; Chad Ryan, a student at Wheaton College; and Alexandra Edwards, a recent Ankeny High School graduate who plans to pursue a degree in criminal justice from Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC).
Both Chad Ryan and Dahlman are previous Prairie Trail scholarship recipients.
Three other students will receive $1,000 scholarship awards for their college pursuits. They include: Taylor Farnham, who is working on her nursing degree from DMACC; Hilary Rinker, a senior at Ankeny High School who plans to attend the University of Northern Iowa this fall in education; and Paul McCleary, who will attend Northwestern College this fall.
“As Prairie Trail continues to grow, we want to help our families’ quest for education grow, and offering awards to our students helps us all achieve our goals, “ says Albaugh, himself a 1970 graduate of DMACC.
Through the Prairie Trail Scholarship initiative, students who live within the Prairie Trail Community, under development just northwest of DMACC’s Ankeny Campus, receive first priority for scholarship funds; however any students who attend a high school in Ankeny that wish to enroll in an Iowa-based college or university are eligible to apply.
Prairie Trail is a 1,000-acre planned community located in Ankeny, Iowa. It’s a tapestry of diverse and distinctive homes, tree-lined streets, and neighborhood stores, nearby offices, schools, parks and greenbelts. At the center of Prairie Trail will be situated a traditional town square, including a variety of restaurants, retail boutiques and businesses, surrounding a central park and amphitheater. Prairie Trail will afford a variety of complementary housing options designed to create a vibrant, energetic community.
The Prairie Trail Scholarship Fund is a unique opportunity to benefit the residents of the neighborhoods in Prairie Trail and schools in Ankeny. The fund, established through the generosity of Dennis & Susan Albaugh and administered by the DMACC Foundation, demonstrates the family’s commitment to education and to the community of Ankeny. Scholarship applicants will be eligible for a maximum lifetime award of $10,000. Preference will be given to students who reside in the Prairie Trail Development, as well as to those students who choose an institution based in Iowa. Additionally, mini-grants for academic performance will be available for educators teaching in an Ankeny school. Mini-grants will be a maximum of $2,500 per award. Funding for the scholarship program is generated by a 1/2 of 1% fee on the transfer of all real property within Prairie Trail. The Albaugh Family committed $100,000 as the initial deposit into the fund.