The Fort Atkinson Community Foundation is pleased to announce the recipients of two local American Association of University Women scholarships – the AAUW Jane Shaw Knox Graduate and the AAUW Second Chance scholarships. These awards are part of the Foundation’s 2024 scholarship program which awarded a total of $429,400 in scholarships to 79 local students.
The AAUW Knox Graduate Scholarship was opened at the Foundation by the local AAUW Chapter and the family of Jane Shaw Knox after Jane’s death in 1987. Jane was a charter and life member of the local AAUW branch and supporting post-secondary education for women was a passion of hers. This scholarship fund was created in appreciation of her friendship, leadership and many contributions to AAUW. It provides financial support for local women who are seeking a post-graduate degree.
The AAUW Second Chance Scholarship is offered by the Fort Atkinson AAUW Branch to provide a local scholarship to women who enroll at a vocational/technical college or an undergraduate university after having been out of formal education for at least one year.
Audra Rogneby
Audra Rogneby is the recipient of a $6,000 AAUW Second Chance Scholarship for the upcoming 2024-25 academic year.
Rogneby, a 2001 graduate of Fort Atkinson High School, is currently working as a teacher’s aide at Crown of Life Christian Academy where she has noted the number of students who would benefit from special education services. To help address this need, she enrolled in the Accelerated Cross Categorical Special Education program at Concordia University. With her previous college credits, she anticipates graduating within the next two years with a bachelor’s degree in education and certification as a special education teacher.
Jordan Hynum
Jordan Hynum is the recipient of a $5,000 AAUW Second Chance Scholarship for the upcoming 2024-25 academic year.
A 2016 graduate of Fort Atkinson High School, Hynum is a licensed real estate broker and a member of the Watertown Area Chamber of Commerce’s Board of Directors. She is now pursuing a bachelor’s degree in marketing at UW-Madison in order to further both her real estate career and to better serve her community. She looks forward to seeing how her current on-the-job style training will bring a unique perspective to her classmates while they learn new material together.
Juanita Tarp
Juanita Tarp is the recipient of a $3,000 AAUW Knox Graduate Scholarship for the upcoming 2024-25 academic year.
Tarp, an experienced, bilingual registered nurse at Fort HealthCare, is pursuing a master’s degree at Marquette University to qualify as a pediatric nurse practitioner. She will begin the three-year program this fall with the goal of using her experience to develop long-term relationships with her patients allowing her to make an impact on their lives. “Or, in Marquette’s own words,” she noted, “I want to Be the Difference.”
Martina Walling
Martina Walling is the recipient of a $2,000 AAUW Knox Graduate Scholarship for the upcoming 2024-25 academic year.
A 2019 graduate of Fort Atkinson High School, Walling will be entering her final year in the Doctor of Pharmacy program at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. In conjunction with her doctoral program in Pharmacy, she has recently completed a Master of Public Health dual-degree program at the University of Memphis. These two degrees will help her in her passion to help resolve the opioid crisis that plagues communities in every corner of our nation.
Alexiyah Coughlin
Alexiyah Coughlin is the recipient of a $2,000 AAUW Knox Graduate Scholarship for the upcoming 2024-25 academic year.
A 2014 graduate of Fort Atkinson High School, Coughlin is a registered nurse and lactation specialist who is currently enrolled as a graduate student at the University of Cincinnati College of Nursing in the women’s health nurse practitioner (WHNP) program. She is on schedule to graduate this December and looks forward to expanding her scope to include diagnosis and prescribing so that she can both better care for the families she sees but also act as a resource for non-prescribing lactation consultants in Wisconsin and eventually beyond.
Olivia Granec
Olivia Granec is the recipient of $1,500 AAUW Knox Graduate Scholarship for the upcoming 2024-25 academic year.
Granec, a 2021 graduate of Fort Atkinson High School, accomplished a rare feat, graduating from UW-Madison in only three years, thanks in part to the many AP credits she earned while in high school. This fall she will embark on a master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction of Secondary Social Studies Education and ESL at UW-Madison’s School of Education, with the goal of becoming a public-school teacher in Wisconsin.
Kaitlyn Garza
Kaitlyn Garza is the recipient of a $1,500 AAUW Second Chance Scholarship for the upcoming 2024-25 academic year.
Garza, a 2018 graduate of Fort Atkinson High School, is pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree in animal behavior at Carroll University. She anticipates graduating in 2026 after which she hopes to pursue a career in the areas of animal welfare, rescue, and rehabilitation.
For more information about the scholarships offered by the Fort Atkinson Community Foundation, visit their website at www.fortfoundation.org.
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