Naper Settlement student volunteer Brooke Kottkamp is the recipient of the Copenhagen Schoolhouse Scholarship, established by Naperville residents Eve and Tom Hushek.
The $500 Scholarship is awarded annually to graduating high school seniors who have volunteered at Naper Settlement for two years as a costumed building interpreter. The awarded funds help recipients with expenses during their freshman year at college.
Brooke, a senior at the Illinois Math and Science Academy in Aurora, has volunteered at Naper Settlement since March 2006. “I am incredibly honored to receive the Copenhagen Schoolhouse Scholarship,” she said. “I have always loved volunteering at Naper Settlement and this award is a wonderful culmination of my seven years of service.”
Brooke, who said she always loved history, didn’t know Naper Settlement existed until she took a field trip with her class when she was in third grade. “It was like walking into one of my favorite books,” she said. “When I learned in fifth grade that I could volunteer at Naper Settlement, I jumped at the opportunity.”
In her Scholarship essay, she wrote that being a volunteer at Naper Settlement, “has given me the confidence to speak in front of the public, the ability to alter my interpretation and select information based on the guests I am conversing with, and the know-how to turn interpretation into conversation by listening.” She plans to become a teacher of environmental education and interpretation.
Eve Hushek, who was a Naper Settlement Museum Educator for 11 years said, “I know that the Scholarship winners will continue to excel long after their departure from Naper Settlement. To have their experience at Naper Settlement be even a small part of their success is reward enough for us.”
For more information about Naper Settlement visit www.napersettlement.org or call (630) 420-6010.
