GAME-CHANGING! WALLIN SCHOLARSHIPS GIVE NORTH METRO STUDENTS A CHANCE FOR COLLEGE SUCCESS

“We’ve had 550 Wallin scholars out of Anoka-Hennepin and they’ve given us $12 million to support those kids,” said Denny Carlson who is a Wallin Education partner. “No other scholarship comes close to that…You’re investing in high academic kids, that if they didn’t have these opportunities it would be a waste. It would be a waste of exceptional talent.

These academic gifts can ease the burden on parents and families who would struggle to afford the costs of college.

Said Wallin: “It’s an exceptional program.”

For many it’s a game-changer.

“I know that my parents are doing everything in their power to take me and allow me to go to any school I want to,” Lexi said. “But now I can go to school without the stress knowing that my parents are going to be working overtime to make it happen for me.”

“It made it a lot easier,” Nichoilas said. “Both the money and then also having the advisor that I knew would be there for me which is a lot of stress relief.”

“Intense application process”

Getting a Walllin scholarship isn’t easy.

“It is an intense application process,” said Jill Wolfe, a Career and College Specialist at Blaine HS.

Students have to prove they are worthy of receiving this gift.

“They do have three essays that they write,” Wolfe said. “They need two letters of recommendation. I mean it is a time-consuming application.”

According to Carlson, over a six-year period 90 percent of these kids who get scholarships graduate. He says if you take the money and the scholarship away, just 15 percent would graduate.

Giving back

The Wallin program was started by the late Win Wallin and his wife Maxine.

“Win Wallin would be so happy to see this,” Carlson said.

Win was CEO at Medtronic and COO at Pillsbury, a real business mogul. His m.o. was giving back to the community and providing young, low income students a chance for collegiate success.

“When Win Wallin was in the hospital close to dying, he was not in good shape,” Carlson said. “One of the doctors that treated him was a Wallin scholar.”

According to Carlson, this is about trying to level the playing field.

“You have the haves and the have nots,” Calrson said. “Our whole effort – Wallin Education Partners – is to give some sort of equity and justice in the world for kids that are most deserving.”

Wallin currently has 110 donor partners who carry on Win Wallin’s vision of doing good things for others.

“They have wealth and they want to pay it forward, and they want to make an investment in good kids so that frankly we become a better society,” Carlson said. “We have way too much of a split of the wealthy and the poor. There’s too big of a divide.”

Secret sauce

Carlson used to be superintendent at Anoka-Hennepin. He says the secret sauce in this program is the advisors.

“They are so experienced and so well trained,” Carlson said.

That includes people like Wolfe.

“I do have a really unique role,” Wolfe said.

“They are superb advisors to these students,” Carlson said. “Yes the money’s important, but that advisor is just as important as the money.”

As for Lexi and Nicholas, their chances of success are now even better.

“I hope you hang onto this footage because they are going to do some amazing things,” Wolfe said. “Should’ve gotten their autographs before they left. They are going to do some great things.”

Nicholas is going to the Milwaukee school of engineering to become an architect.

“I want to have a lasting impact on the world,” Nicholas said.  “I want to be able to actually make both a physical and educational impact on the world.”

Next stop for Lexi is Howard University in Washington DC to study pre-law and political science – where she will follow in the footsteps of a political trailblazer named Kamala Harris.

“Our Vice President went to Howard and she went to Howard law school as well,” Lexi said. “I’m just really grateful to be honest. I’m very happy for the experience I got from Blaine High School.”

“Nick is going to do amazing being kind of embraced with this engineering community,” Wolfe said. “Lexi is going to thrive with the challenge of politics in DC.”

Said Carlson: “They will do great things for their families, this state and this nation.”