Forest City Education Foundation holds Senior Awards Night program

FOREST CITY — The Forest City Education Foundation held their annual Senior Awards Night program Wednesday night at the Boman Fine Arts Center.  The foundation awarded just over $532,000 to 44 seniors graduating, a similar amount awarded last year.

The program began with every senior receiving a scholarship from the Hanson Family Foundation, ranging from $2,700, to $3,700 if the student attends NIACC, and $4,100 if the student attends Waldorf.

Education Foundation Board president Ray Beebe says the  money presented to seniors makes a big difference in their ability to attend college. “It means a lot to these kids. Everybody knows the cost of a college education keeps going up and up, and a lot of these kids could not go where they want or do what they are doing without some help from us. They are very grateful for what happens and we are very pleased to do it. We have so many good kids here and they go off and do well in college, and we’re just tickled and proud that we can help them out on that journey.”

Foundation executive director Liz Taylor says it all starts with the donors who give the money to support the scholarships. “The donors are the reason we are here. We could not do any of this without any of our donors, and we see new donors come out of the woodworks every year. We see donors that have been with us since day one, for 30-some years ago that are still giving and still investing in our students, even if they don’t know them anymore.”

Click here to see a list of all the student winners FCEF Scholarships 2025