STAR SCHOLARSHIP | STAR
to Sisters Making the Connection: Chapter IN, Olathe, Kansas, was quite happy in the spring of 2021 to receive news that their STAR candidate, Emily Kresin, was a STAR Scholarship recipient! The next question the chapter had was, what can we do to support her as she heads to her college of choice? (In this case, it just happened to be our own Cottey College.) Chapter IN made plans to send Emily notes throughout the semester, visit her and send care packages. There was one more special gift that they gave her prior to Emily leaving for Cottey—she was initiated into Chapter IN. She is now a third generation P.E.O., and Chapter IN has a delightful new sister. These are just two examples of how local chapters took advantage of meeting outstanding women and have now given them the gift of P.E.O. Let’s not stop there! Don’t forget to turn to local schools as a resource as well. Many of our STAR Scholarship committees have been forming relationships with the school counselors and teachers in their local high schools for many years. Have you talked with these women educators about P.E.O., not just our scholarship? The same advice applies—find ways to make a connection with these women, and see if they might just become a new sister. Local chapters have done a wonderful job supporting the STAR Scholarship and finding outstanding candidates. It is important for all of us to go a step further and look at the women that have supported these women. You will find that many of them will make wonderful P.E.O. sisters.
FromSTARS
s your local chapter searches for the perfect P.E.O. STAR Scholarship candidate, are you also thinking about potential new P.E.O. sisters? Maybe not … but why not? Think about the women that you encounter on this journey— your STAR applicant, her mother, her aunt, the
school counselor or teacher that you talk with. Remember, the qualities that we look for in our STAR applicants are the same wonderful qualities that we share with our chapter sisters. Many STAR applicants research “P.E.O.” in preparation for their meeting with the chapter STAR committee. This is a perfect opportunity to have conversations about our P.E.O. mission. As we help other women reach for the stars, think about making a personal connection. Invite them to meet with you and come to a social event outside a chapter meeting. These getting-to-know-you sessions might reveal that these women would be a perfect fit for your chapter. A few years ago, when members of Chapter IC, Kansas City, Missouri, were interviewing candidates for the STAR Scholarship, one of the women brought her mother to the interview. During the meeting, local chapter members talked with the candidate and her mother. They asked numerous questions about P.E.O. As the committee members talked, they realized that their candidate’s mother seemed like a perfect fit for their chapter. Although their STAR candidate did not end up receiving the scholarship, her mother thought P.E.O. was an organization that she would like to be a part of. As a result, Chapter IC initiated a new sister. Marie Spector remains an active member of Chapter IC and will be holding her first office next year.
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May–June 2022 | THE P.E.O. RECORD
WWW.PEOINTERNATIONAL.ORG
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