Do you want to make a difference in the world?  Do you want to help students who are underprivileged?  Do you enjoy teaching with an extreme passion?  Would you like more training to be a teacher in an urban setting?  Then Golden Apple is for you!

            I am one of the several Golden Apple Scholars on campus.  I was selected my senior year of high school out of hundreds of applicants to receive this high honor.  Although I received this my senior year, the Golden Apple Foundation also gives out a similar award to students who are in their sophomore year who plan on teaching.  However, students who want the award need to apply towards the end of their freshman year or the very beginning of their sophomore year.  There is an application process which include writing around seven short essays.  After receiving and reading all of the essays, the foundation selects only 200-300 students to have an interview.  The interview is the deciding factor on who receives the award.

Through Golden Apple, I have received many opportunities to work in places that I never thought I would.  On such opportunity was working at Ancona Elementary, a Montessori school, in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago working with preschool students.  I also assisted in an English class at Noble Street Charter High School in Chicago.  In both of these experiences, I was able to gain more knowledge about diversity of students than I could ever have imagined.  While some of the students at the Montessori school were reading at the age of four, there were a couple of students at Noble Street Charter that were just learning English.  Some of the stories the high school students shared with me were horrific.  I cannot imagine seeing my brother shot and then having to run close to a mile from the shooter just to get home safely.  This past summer I was lucky enough to work at the Museum Campus (Shedd Aquarium, Field Museum, Adler Planetariu) in Chicago as a camp counselor.  I had full access to any of these museums plus some additional ones.  While enjoying working at these locations, I also got to work with a group of around 25 six year olds each week.  It was an amazing experience that I will never forget!

Each Golden Apple Scholars’ experiences are quite different.  However, most that you meet will say that it is a wonderful opportunity to grow not only as a teacher, but also as a person.  There are some requirements in order to receive this award.  In addition to the amazing experience, Golden Apple provides each scholar with a stipend of $2,000 for each summer spent in the Golden Apple Summer Institutes.  It also presents each scholar with a $2,500 scholarship each year.  However, if the requirements after graduation are not met, then the scholar must pay the foundation back the scholarship money. 

If you want more information about Golden Apple, feel free to contact me through e-mail at hkness@monm.edu or find one of the several other Golden Apple Scholars on campus.  For more information, you may also visit the Golden Apple website at www.goldenapple.org.  The website also contains information on how to apply to become a Golden Apple scholar along with more of a description on what Golden Apple Scholars do during the summers.