The Minton family would like to invite you to a prayer vigil at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Leitchfield at 12 noon in honor of Phyllis Minton. The vigil welcomes everyone regardless of religious denomination. (A small gathering will take place afterwards at the home of Kenneth & Phyllis.) Above all things, Phyllis loved and trusted in God. She was a loving wife, a gracious mother, and a devoted teacher. One year ago to this day, September 28th, our mother was killed in a train/vehicle incident. Many of you know Mom from the 25 years she was in education or from singing her praises for the Lord. Whether you met her in the hall passing by, sat in her classroom as a student or observer, shared data during a math department meeting, watched her dance or sing in the classroom or church, or if she was your mentor, you knew of her love for math and the high expectations she set for her students and colleagues.
She devoted a lot of her time to educating our youth and even donated funds for less fortunate children so that they may experience extracurricular studies for gifted students. Therefore, in her remembrance we felt it appropriate to take donations for a scholarship so we could continue her acts of kindness. Through your generosity and the help of countless others we were able to raise $13,000. We teamed up with Western Kentucky University to set up the Phyllis Minton Endowment Memorial Scholarship. The fund supports gifted young people who wish to attend programs at the Center for Gifted Studies at WKU. Multiple programs are offered through The Center that appeal to curious and high achieving students from KINDERGARTEN to their SENIOR year. My son, Nate, attended many of the programs as did other students from GCHS. Attached is a full explanation of the scholarship, what programs will be offered at The Center, and how to apply. My hope is to extend this beyond GCHS but to all Grayson County schools as it serves a wide age group.
We, the Minton family, would like to keep the funds for the scholarship healthy and readily available for any participant who may want to apply; therefore, we will plan on various fundraising events throughout the future years to help reach our goals. Those events will be conducted with the sole purpose of raising money for the Phyllis Minton Endowment Memorial Scholarship. (100% of the profit will go into the endowment fund.) However, we realized that not all events will meet the needs of everyone. Attached is a copy of the pledge cards provided by WKU, and all gifts in support of The Phyllis Minton Endowed Memorial Fund are tax-deductible. If you would like a pledge card please feel free to contact me via email kim.pennington@grayson.kyschools.us.
We cannot thank you enough for the continued prayers and support for our family. Whatever you may have done to console our hearts, it was known and appreciated. Whether you were a first responder, sent a lovely card, prepared food, typed a kind text, provided a shoulder to cry on, or maybe you weren’t there at all but just thought of us one day…THANK YOU. Mom was truly loved and valued. Please join us as we celebrate her lifetime of devotion to her family, her career, and her love for her Savior.
The Phyllis Minton Endowed Memorial Fund
The Phyllis Minton Endowed Memorial Fund was established in 2019 to permanently honor the life of Phyllis Minton, beloved wife, mother, grandmother, friend, and educator. The fund is administered by the WKU Foundation and supports gifted young people who wish to attend programming at The Center for Gifted Studies at WKU. Multiple programs are offered through The Center to appeal to curious and high achieving students from kindergarten to their senior year. Recipients must possess the personal qualities of character, integrity, dependability, industriousness, and human compassion which produces leaders and merits the honor of the award and they must meet the minimum requirements to attend any of the programs described below:
Super Saturdays (Fall & Winter) Grades 1 – 8
Saturday classes allow high-ability and high-interest students in grades one through eight to broaden the scope of their interests and interact with other bright young people on WKU’s campus and at the Kentucky Science Center in Louisville. Students choose one course from a wide selection covering a variety of academic disciplines.
Camp Explore (Summer) Grades 1 – 3
Camp Explore is a day camp for children with advanced ability and high interest who have been in grades one, two, or three during the prior school year. The experience features minds-on and hands-on instruction designed to engage children in learning at advanced levels.
Camp Innovate (Summer) Grades 3 – 5
Camp Innovate is a day camp for children with advanced ability and high interested who were in grades three, four, or five during the prior school year. The experience features minds-on and hands-on instruction designed to engage children in learning at advanced levels.
Summer Camp for Academically Talented Middle School Students – SCATS (Summer) Grades 6-8
This two-week camp provides a wide range of classes for academically talented students who have been in grades six through eight during the prior school year. Students take four courses from a wide array of choices, and campers may be residential or non-residential.
Summer Program for Verbally and Mathematically Precocious Youth–VAMPY (Summer)Grades 7-10
Students who have been in grades seven through ten during the prior school year qualify for VAMPY by taking the ACT or SAT and scoring at or above the average for college-bound seniors. In this three-week residential program, students spend six hours each day in a challenging academic environment.
To be eligible for support from The Phyllis Minton Endowed Memorial Fund, applicants must provide a letter of interest (two pages maximum) describing their academic interests, future goals, and value of attending a program at The Center for Gifted Studies and mail it to: The Phyllis Minton Memorial Fund, c/o The Center for Gifted Studies, 1906 College Heights Blvd., Bowling Green, KY 42101. Special consideration will be given to students who demonstrate an aptitude or interest in mathematics. To learn more about the program(s) as well as dates, please refer to WKU website www.wku.edu/gifted.
All gifts in support of The Phyllis Minton Endowed Memorial Fund are tax-deductible.
Author: Kim Pennington
