PHOTO CREDIT: Mayo Clinic

Education News

  • Brilla Charter Schools Network Unveils Louis V. Gerstner III Seton Teaching Fellows House
    November 1, 2023

    On Thursday, October 26, 2023, Brilla Public Charter Schools and their Charter Management Organization, Seton Education Partners, held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to commemorate the opening of the Louis V. Gerstner III Seton Teaching Fellows House in the South Bronx. The Seton Teaching Fellows program is a one to two-year mission opportunity for recent college graduates to serve children in underserved communities in both the classroom, as teacher aides, and by running El Camino, Seton’s after-school faith formation program. The building was named in honor of Louis V. Gerstner III, the late son of Louis V. Gerstner, Jr. and former President of the Gerstner Family Foundation, who was a life-long champion of opportunities to pursue a high-quality education for under-privileged children. In addition to the Seton Teaching Fellows House, Brilla unveiled a newly renovated gym for the students of Brilla College Prep, and dedicated network offices for the organization. Support for the renovations came from Gerstner Philanthropies, the W. E. Simon Foundation and the Robert and Kate Niehaus Foundation.

    Read more about Louis V. Gerstner IIIRead more about Brilla Public Charter Schools
  • Gerstner Scholars Recognized With Competitive Awards
    May 8, 2023

    Gerstner Philanthropies is proud to announce that two Gerstner Scholars at Dartmouth earned distinction for their undergraduate work. Cady Rancourt, a Dartmouth ’24 Gerstner Scholar has won the “Made at Dartmouth” competition for her video sharing the results of her examination of college teaching practices. Her testimonial was chosen from hundreds across campus for its thoughtful articulation of her research to date. Rancourt was also recently awarded the James O. Freedman Presidential Scholarship this year, an additional honor which will provide financial and advising support for her work as a research assistant in preparation for undertaking a senior honors thesis. Gavin Fry, a Dartmouth ’25 Gerstner Scholar, has received a Goldwater Scholarship to support his pursuit of a research career in meteorology. As one of 413 students chosen nationally, he will receive up to $7,500 for the academic year. Fry, a sophomore at Dartmouth, will use this scholarship to continue his study of severe weather climatology in the Mid-South. As a first-gen and low income student, Gavin has said that “Coming here—having the resources to succeed, having the help, making the connections—has been instrumental in my ability to succeed, and beyond that, it gave me the confidence to say that I can actually apply to do these things.”

    View Cady Rancourt’s video here
  • Gerstner Philanthropies Visits with Gerstner Scholars at John Carroll High School
    December 5, 2022

    This week, our Chairman, Louis V. Gerstner, Jr., and our Executive Director Kara Klein had the opportunity to meet with Gerstner Scholars at John Carroll High School in Fort Pierce, Florida. The Louis V. Gerstner, Jr. Distinguished Scholars Program was established in 2005. Since that time the foundation has invested over $4.7 million dollars to support scholarships at the three high schools within the Diocese of Palm Beach. The scholarship supports outstanding students with financial need. Principal Corey Heroux expressed her gratitude by sharing “It was such a gift for our Gerstner scholars to meet Mr. Gerstner and to hear from him so many beautiful pearls of wisdom about how to pursue success and to live a meaningful life marked by service to others.”

  • Study Shows Small Emergency Grants Can Help College Students Stay in School
    November 30, 2022

    A new study commissioned by the Heckscher Foundation and conducted by Sage Education documents significant gains in college persistence as a result of a student emergency grants program and contains insights to help others implement similar programs. The State University of New York (SUNY) Student Emergency Fund program, established by the Heckscher Foundation and Gerstner Philanthropies, aimed to increase the likelihood that underserved students would succeed and persist in college by providing one-time financial aid in response to emergency, such as medical crises, natural disasters, domestic violence, theft or loss of employment. The program tracked these outcomes and demonstrated that Student Emergency Fund recipients showed substantially higher achievement rates than the general campus populations. Since 2018, of the nearly 2,000 students across the six campuses who received the grants — which by design could not be used to pay tuition — 94% were still enrolled in college, or had successfully graduated or completed their program of study, in the semester immediately following receipt of their award. Nationally, and at the SUNY campuses overall, the rate is 76%.

    Read the Full Article at the74million.orgRead the full study at heckscherfoundation.org
  • Diocese of Palm Beach Awarded $1.68 Million Grant from Gerstner Philanthropies to Support Scholarship Program
    August 3, 2022

    Gerstner Philanthropies has awarded the Diocese of Palm Beach a grant of $1.68 million over the next seven years to continue the Louis V. Gerstner, Jr. Distinguished Scholars Program at the three diocesan high schools: Cardinal Newman High School (West Palm Beach), John Carroll High School (Fort Pierce) and St. John Paul II Academy (Boca Raton). Bishop Gerald M. Barbarito expressed his appreciation for the gift by saying, “The Diocese of Palm Beach is grateful to Mr. Lou Gerstner and the Gerstner Family Foundation for their continued support of academic excellence in our three Catholic high schools. These scholarships assist families with outstanding students, who have financial need, to be able to attend our Catholic high schools. I know that these families appreciate this wonderful opportunity offered to their children.”

    Read More At NCEA Momentum Magazine