St. Scholastica student Senia Helene Jutila has been awarded a $15,250 scholarship from the Jay and Rose Phillips Family Foundation.

The Phillips Scholar Program is open to sophomores at 16 private colleges and universities in Minnesota. Six students are chosen each year to develop summer-long service learning programs they carry out between their junior and senior years. Each campus may submit one application per year for the scholarship.

St. Scholastica has had more Phillips Scholars than any other private school in Minnesota. St. Scholastica students have won the prestigious scholarship 11 out of 14 times since its inception in the mid-1990s. The awards recognize the students’ dedication to community service and are given to potential leaders with outstanding academic credentials.

The goal of Jutila's project, called Project Star, is to provide support to children and families affected by Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). The project will combine social skill-building activities for children with autism, support for their siblings, and networking opportunities for their parents and caregivers.

Jutila and her project volunteers will create a scrapbook describing activities and accomplishments of the summer sessions. The scrapbook will be donated to the Autism Treatment and Resource Center in Duluth to promote future programs. In addition, the parent resources made available during the program will be compiled into a database.

Jutila majors in occupational therapy at St. Scholastica; her minor is in psychology. She plans to pursue a master's degree in occupational therapy at St. Scholastica and hopes eventually to work in the field of pediatric occupational therapy.

She is an active member of several student organizations at St. Scholastica. She served as president of Circle K, the Kiwanis-affiliated student organization which promotes community service, leadership, development and fellowship. She was team captain for the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life, recruiting and training team members and leading fundraising efforts. She also served as chair of the College’s Reif Run Committee and was responsible for planning and organizing a 5K run on campus.

She has volunteered at a number of local healthcare facilities including the Benedictine Health Center and the Polinsky Rehabilitation Center.

The Jay and Rose Phillips Family Foundation supports efforts to improve the quality of healthcare, expand access to quality education for all people, and improve the lives of people who face the challenges of disabilities and discrimination. Phillips Scholarship projects exemplify new thinking about community needs and are selected based on their innovation and potential for creating long-term solutions to community problems.

The Minnesota Private College Fund administers the Phillips Scholarships and provides mentoring to the scholars as they implement their projects. St. Scholastica is one of 17 private college and university members of the Minnesota Private College Council, Fund and Research Foundation.