Annual Scholarship Winners Announced

One of Taft University’s key missions is to provide affordable graduate degrees for professionals who want to develop knowledge and skills within their career path. Following that mission, we offer the annual Dr. Roger J. Duthoy Scholarship Program for passionate educators looking to earn their Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) degree.

This year, we received an overwhelming number of excellent, well-qualified applicants for the scholarship program. Our selection process involved consideration of prior education, contributions to public service, and passion for the field of education.

Now we are excited to announce this year’s winners:

Full Scholarship:

Christine Simpson

Christine is currently the Principal of Rouse High School in Leander, TX. Her own experience with a teacher when she was young inspired her to follow a path into public education so that she could show the same compassion and help empower students. Her passion for working with opportunity gaps and choosing to listen rather than discipline has created a culture within her schools that encourages positive change. In 2012, she published her first book Riding Shotgun: Empowering Students to Lead Change and has since presented at conferences in Washington D.C., Seattle, and Austin covering topics within the field of education. As Principal, she works to pass along that sense of empowerment to her staff as well as students.

75% Scholarship:

Reuben Rebollo

Reuben has been a social studies teacher at Timpview High School in Provo, UT since 2013. His family moved to the US from Mexico when he was five and gained American citizenship after a few years. They always instilled a respect for hard work, community, and education – and he has carried those values into his adult life and career. Through a combination of community service, a mission trip to Guatamala, and his career as a teacher, he has dedicated his time and energy towards helping youth succeed and learn.

50% Scholarships:

Stacy Andell

Stacy is the Principal of Ganeinu International School in Beijing, China, a position she has held since 2013. Before that, she also worked there as a Curriculum Coordinator and as Head of English Department at a school in Haiti. Most of her career has been international and focused on innovation within the field of education. Her interest is in looking at how different students learn through different methods and at different paces – and how to best help them with that in mind.

Glenn Melero

Glenn has been an Algebra and science teacher at El-Cajon Valley High School in La Mesa, CA for over a decade. After teaching for over 19 years, he’s looking for a shift into a leadership role. Technology has always been a useful tool for him in the classroom and he is always looking for new ways to utilize it to better teach his students. He also works with LiteracyTA developing projects to promote literacy skills in classrooms, as well as building capacity and leadership as a member of the Instructional Leadership Corp in California. His colleagues see him as a true innovator within the classroom and someone who is unafraid to try new methods and ideas.