Big congratulations to alumni Mira Williams as our chosen receipient for our $500.00 Alumni Scholarship! Mira attended the Co-op starting as a toddler and went through to her 5th grade year.
In high school at Omaha Central High School, Mira did her dissertation on Visual Arts. She focused specifically on the impact of how street artist Banksy uses the street art genre within his artwork to make a political statement. She was a member of the National Honor Society – Beta Chapter and the Omaha Central O-Club. Mira extensively volunteered around Omaha at businesses such as the Nebraska Humane Society, Special Olympics, US Olympic Swim Trials, and the Salvation Army. She also was a participant researcher at Nebraska Wildlife Rehab, Inc, a lifeguard and a grant writer and candidate for the 2015 Omaha Mayor’s Neighborhood Grant Program.
Here are some parts of her application essay we would like to share:
I have always been very proud and thankful for the education that I received at my Montessori school. Starting as a toddler and through my last year as a fifth grader, I have been able to learn, communicate, and experience new things throughout my education because of those years at Montessori. I believe that if my parents had not enrolled me into our Montessori school, 
that I may not have been the successful, high-level honors student I became.
Montessori’s first core value of Excellence in Academics reflects upon me very strongly. I have been in honors classes throughout middle and high school, including advanced math classes two grades above my level. I have always been adapted to Montessori’s small class sizes, to which I have actually continued to participate during my junior and senior years of high school.
The second core value, focused on self-discovery, has helped me become an independent and creative learner. I consider myself a leader within my classes and through other activities such as varsity swimming, art club, community service and National Honor Society.
The third core value, investment in each other, is the most important value that represents me as a whole. I am very involved in community service work, as a way to provide service to others, something I learned in my years at Montessori. I partake in community service because I genuinely love helping others and giving back to the community and environment.
Overall, the Montessori experience has helped me become a strong leader and an academically and community-engaged student in service to others.
We also asked Mira to share one of her favorite memories from when she attended the Co-op.
It’s hard to choose just one of my favorite memories about Montessori because so many good ones were created and experienced in my time there. But one particular memory that was probably my favorite thing about Montessori was the time I spent in the art room with my teacher Ms. Julie. Ms. Julie was by far my highlight of every week at Montessori. Her class is what inspired me to continue art in my future. The different ways that Ms. Julie taught art was one of the reasons why I began to love it so much and continue to love it to this day. My other favorite memory would also be meeting and working with all of the teachers, the new friends I made as a toddler and growing up with them. Some of my friends from Montessori I am still friends with today, and even go to the same high school as me. This just goes to show that being a Montessori kid helped me become a good friend, a leader inside and outside the classroom, as well as an aspiring artist. I will always be grateful for my learning and experiences at Montessori.
The parents and staff at the Co-op are very proud of Mira, her academic accomplishments, and her on-going dedication to service to our community. She is an outstanding representative of a Montessori education.
