Lighthouse Guild Scholarships Recognize Exceptional Students Pursuing Their Dreams

Lighthouse Guild provides scholarships every year to exceptional college-bound high school students and graduate students who are legally blind.

Our scholarships are based on strong academic accomplishment and merit to help students with vision loss make a successful transition to college and graduate education. The 2020 scholarship recipients, from across the country, will attend some of the nation’s most competitive universities.

“The education experience has been dramatically changed by COVID-19, and students with vision loss are particularly impacted,” says Calvin W. Roberts, MD, President and CEO of Lighthouse Guild. “We are pleased to provide scholarships to these outstanding students who are legally blind, which they may decide to use for specialized equipment or other preparations related to distance learning. I congratulate this year’s recipients and wish them the greatest success in their future careers.”

Since its inception in 2005, Lighthouse Guild’s Scholarship Program has awarded approximately $2.5 million in scholarships to outstanding students from 39 states. Former scholarship recipients have gone on to careers as attorneys, teachers, engineers, chemists, composers, musicians, neuroscientists, social workers, business owners, investors, epidemiologists, nurses, physician assistants, physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists, journalists and computer scientists.

Teaching Award
Each year, Lighthouse Guild also recognizes the powerful role teachers play in motivating students who are blind by recognizing a teacher based on nominations received from the students themselves. The 2020 Lighthouse Guild Teacher Award recipients are Jon Graetz, a math teacher at Miami Valley School in Dayton, Ohio; and Scott Secrest, a physics teacher at St. Frances de Sales School in Toledo, Ohio.

Mr. Graetz’s student nominee, Nola Timmins, said, “I would spend hours in his classroom doing my homework and asking for help when I needed it. He would patiently sit with me until I understood every single concept and why it worked. I have had many amazing teachers throughout my school career… but I will always hold a special place in my heart for Mr. Graetz.”

According to Jalen Ballard, Mr. Secrest’s student nominee, “The individualized help that Mr. Secrest has given me has helped me develop a mindset for problem-solving that I believe will carry over well to future studies. He has been a source of inspiration as his work has proved to me that I can take on subjects that traditionally involve visual elements.”

“We receive hundreds of scholarship applications and essays each year nominating teachers from accomplished students across the country,” says Gordon Rovins, Director of Special Programs at Lighthouse Guild. “These students, supported by great teachers, have powerful stories of personal triumph and academic achievement. We congratulate them, their teachers and their families.”

Read the inspiring testimonials from this year’s Lighthouse Guild Scholarship recipients and learn more about our program.