June 20, 2025
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Somonauk High ‘23 grad, aspiring educator earns scholarship

Myranda Banister is 2025 Teachers’ Association Foundation’s Helen Kennedy Scholarship winner

By Shaw Local News Network
(From left): Linda Chapman, DeKalb County Retired Teachers' Association; Myranda Banister, scholarship recipient; Wendy Wiegers, Area 2 Representative; and Lora Banister, mother of Myranda, pose for a photo.

(From left): Linda Chapman, DeKalb County Retired Teachers' Association; Myranda Banister, scholarship recipient; Wendy Wiegers, Area 2 Representative; and Lora Banister, mother of Myranda, pose for a photo. (Photo provided by Linda Chapman)

SOMONAUK – Somonauk High School graduate Myranda Banister recently was awarded the Illinois Retired Teachers Association Foundation’s 2025 Helen Kennedy Scholarship.

The $2,000 scholarship is presented to Illinois high school graduates pursuing an education degree and who are an incoming college sophomore, junior or senior.

Banister graduated from Somonauk High School in 2023. She attended the Indian Valley Vocational Center’s Teaching Methods program. Banister studied child development, classroom management and how to organize lesson plans. She also taught original lesson plans in a pre-school setting. Banister interned at an elementary school.

She plans to study elementary education with an early childhood education endorsement at Aurora University.

The scholarship was created in honor of Helen Kennedy, a former Freeport School District 145 teacher.

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