Carla Harris, a student at The College of St. Scholastica, has been awarded a $14,000 scholarship from the Jay and Rose Phillips Family Foundation.

The Phillips Scholar Program is open to sophomores at 16 private colleges and universities in the state. 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 $14,000 scholarship.

St. Scholastica has had more Phillips Scholars than any other private school in Minnesota. St. Scholastica students have won the prestigious scholarship 10 out of 13 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.

"Carla Harris carries on a tradition of St. Scholastica students making a difference in the greater community," said Dr. Larry Goodwin, president of St. Scholastica.

Harris' project addresses the need for positive enrichment activities for Native American youth in the Duluth, MN, area. She plans to train college mentors to develop trusting relationships with teens from the Fond du Lac community through an outdoor experiential program and leadership development activities. After the training sessions, she plans to connect the teens with elementary students from the Fond du Lac Ojibwe School, enabling them to serve as positive role models for these youth during a critical developmental period in their lives.

Recent Phillips Scholars at St. Scholastica include Katie Windschill ('04-'06 Phillips Scholar) from Marion, IA, who worked with elderly people through her project "Support and Respite Care Group for Parkinson's Disease Victims," Stacy Rauenhorst ('05-'07) from Wells, MN, whose project encouraged the socialization of teens with disabilities, and Sylvia Rodriguez ('06-'08) from Montevideo, Uruguay, whose "Empowering Young Voices" project is focusing this summer on middle school children in disadvantaged neighborhoods of St. Paul.

Harris is a physical therapy major who plans to continue her education in the College's Doctor of Physical Therapy program. Upon completing her graduate studies, she hopes to secure a pediatric physical therapy position.

Harris is an active member of a variety of St. Scholastica student organizations including Volunteers Involved Though Action and InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, providing volunteer services for agencies and groups throughout Duluth and in the Twin Cities. In March 2006 she participated in the St. Scholastica Chapter of Habitat for Humanity service-learning trip to Oak Ridge, TN.

She has also volunteered at a number of local healthcare facilities including: Northstar Physical Therapy, Horizon Home Health Care, and the Benedictine Health Center. She has participated in fundraising activities for World Vision and the Blood:Water Mission 1000 Wells Project, which is dedicated to the development of clean water in Africa.

The Phillips Family Foundation continues Jay and Rose Phillips' commitments to making life better for those who suffer, by supporting efforts to improve the quality of health care, 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 Phillips, both of whom were children of Russian Jewish immigrants, created the foundation in 1944.

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.

The College of St. Scholastica is regularly recognized as one of the finest colleges of the Midwest. The 2007 "America's Best Colleges" survey by U.S. News & World Report magazine ranks St. Scholastica in the top tier of Midwestern universities. The Washington Post has rated St. Scholastica as one of the nation's 100 "hidden gems" among U.S. colleges and universities.