The East Valley Institute of Technology Educational Foundation in 2019 gave 76 scholarships to students, a record number at that time for the organization that started in 1999.
“And we were pretty excited at the time,” Denny Brown, executive director of the foundation, said at the EVIT Governing Board’s April 14 meeting.
Last year the foundation gave out 1,330 scholarships, he said.
“This year, as of today, 823 for this school year already. It’s massive,” Brown said.
Scholarships are for EVIT students who need assistance, Foundation Board Chair Larry Christiansen told the governing board.
“We will probably, as a we look to this year, be raising and giving to students — EVIT students with need — close to $400,000 for ... scholarships,” he said. “(T)he word for us is sustainability because more scholarships mean we have to secure the funds to do the job — grants and donors all in place — so we don’t lose that student that’s going to enter the workforce.”
Foundation scholarships remove barriers for students who cannot afford the fees or other costs of an education, he said.
“Thank you so much for all you do. Thank you for being visionaries and creating and supporting and developing and leading a place called EVIT, which is the solution to our East Valley workforce,” Christiansen said to the governing board.
The foundation has made great strides in helping students, EVIT Superintendent Chad Wilson said.
“One of the things we’re very blessed with here is to have a partnership with a foundation that truly looks at putting students first,” he said. “I want to give Larry and Denny credit because since I became the superintendent they have taken the foundation from an entity that was actually running well to an entity that excelling.”
East Valley Institute of Technology is a public trade school providing 50 career training programs for East Valley high school students and Phoenix-area adults at two central campuses in Mesa. East Valley school districts include Apache Junction, Mesa, Queen Creek, Cave Creek, Chandler, Fountain Hills, Gilbert, Higley, J.O. Combs, Scottsdale and Tempe. Classes are 8-10:35 a.m. or noon-2:35 p.m. Monday through Friday. Classes with four-hour blocks are 7-11 a.m. or noon-4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Classes are also held at satellite campuses, according to https://www.evit.edu.
Richard H. Dyer can be reached at rdyer@iniusa.org, or on X @rhdyer. To voice your opinion on this story, connect with us at AzOpinions@iniusa.org.
Meet Richard Richard Dyer has worked at Independent Newsmedia Inc. USA since 1987, starting his career in Apache Junction as a copy editor and being promoted over the years to work as the editor of the Mesa Independent, news services editor for the East Valley office in Apache Junction, managing editor for the East Valley office, news services editor for the East Valley office and eventually also for the newspapers at INI’s then-Chandler office, managing editor again and as a news editor covering Apache Junction/Gold Canyon and Queen Creek. He helped start the Florence Independent while the news editor covering Apache Junction and Mesa news. In January 2023, he became associate managing editor for the East Valley newspapers and in August 2023 became managing editor for the East Valley newspapers of Chandler/Tempe, Gilbert, Queen Creek, Florence, Mesa and Apache Junction/Gold Canyon, while also reporting on Mesa and Apache Junction/Gold Canyon.
Community: Since 2009, he has worked as a volunteer to design The Blue Guitar Magazine, Blue Guitar Jr. magazine and Unstrung magazine, which are projects of The Arizona Consortium for the Arts; and since 2014, has been overseeing the art submissions.
Education: University of Arizona with a master of arts in journalism and a bachelor of science in agricultural communication. Also continuing education at Mesa Community College in welding in a metal art sculpture class.
Random fact: Saw his first tornado on May 31, 2010, which was classified as an EF-2, as part of a stormchasing tour group.
Hobbies: He is an artist of welded-steel sculptures, selling his artwork at juried and non-juried art shows.
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