Photo of Central Elementary School in Ferguson / by Andrew Jansen, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Two local students are beginning their college careers this fall with the help of scholarships launched at St. Stephen’s and the Vine.
The Scholarship Foundation of St. Louis offered the Central Elementary Challenge Award to members of the high school graduating classes of 2025 and 2026 who attended Central Elementary School in Ferguson. According to the Scholarship Foundation’s website, this scholarship was created to support those who have worked hard in school and are without financial means to achieve their postsecondary educational goals.
The Scholarship Foundation provided the funding and St. Stephen’s provided space as a base of operations for the Scholarship Foundation to gather with interested students and their families, educate them about resources, and connect them with mentors.
“In the year following the killing of Michael Brown, Jr., community members organized to support first and second graders attending Central,” said Faith Sandler, Executive Director of the Scholarship Foundation and former member of St. Stephen’s and the Vine.
That volunteer effort to support teachers and help young students whose community had suffered tragedy resulted in relationships that have now spanned 10 years.
“Those once-little ones were in the senior year of high school in 2024-25,” Sandler said. “The Central Elementary Challenge Scholarship is designed to provide them some encouragement and support to continue in post-secondary education.”
St. Stephen’s and the Vine hosted the gathering of interested students and families on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and Inauguration Day in January. The Rev. Aaron Rogers, who was the priest-in-charge at St. Stephen’s and the Vine, said there was nowhere else he wanted to be that day than at an event with such a hopeful and equity-driven purpose.
“He (Aaron Rogers) and St. Stephen’s helped ‘launch’ not just a scholarship, but a whole bunch of dreams out of what was once a terrible community tragedy,” Sandler said.
Two students each received $10,000 scholarships, which are renewable for up to five years or 10 semesters. One of those recipients will be studying accounting at Maryville University in Town and Country, MO. The second recipient is studying sports management at Southeast Missouri State in Cape Girardeau, MO.
St. Stephen’s and the Vine is pleased to have played a small part of this community success story. We are grateful to Faith Sandler and the work of the Scholarship Foundation of St. Louis for making these scholarships possible. We wish both of the scholarship winners much success in their college careers!
