King Elementary honors Shari Miller with partnership award

Shari Miller, program specialist in the School of Education and coordinator in the ISU 4U Promise partnership, will be honored with the inaugural King Partnership of the Year Award by King Elementary School in Des Moines. Miller works with Katherine Richardson Bruna, a professor in the School of Education and founding director of the ISU 4U Promise partnership, and school and community leaders to make college-going a reality for underserved students from King and Moulton elementary schools in Des Moines. 

“We all know the important and powerful work that Shari does as the ISU 4U Promise Program Coordinator. For her to be recognized by our partner school for her responsive and relational approach is true affirmation of the value she brings to the program,” Bruna said. “It attests to the level of trust the program has built in the community over its 10-year development.”

The award will be presented to Miller on Thursday, June 3, as part of an event that celebrates King fifth grade students’ promotion to middle school. The students will receive ISU 4U Promise tuition award letters, offering up to full tuition at Iowa State University, pro-rated by each year in elementary school.

The eighth cohort of students are enrolling in the ISU 4U Promise program this spring. Approximately 743 students in grades 6-12 are now on the ISU 4U Promise track. Seven ISU 4U promise eligible high school seniors have accepted their offers of admission to Iowa State for enrollment in fall 2021.

Ten members of the initial cohort will start their fourth year at Iowa State in the fall, with majors that include biochemistry, integrated studio arts, kinesiology and health, mechanical engineering, performing arts, political science, pre-business, psychology, sociology, and women’s and gender studies.

When the annual visit of fifth graders to the Iowa State campus had to be canceled due to the pandemic, Miller worked with units across campus to offer the first Virtual ISU Week for children at King and Moulton. With involvement from seven Iowa State colleges, the fifth graders engaged daily with live lessons and activities or pre-recorded videos to learn more about Iowa State. The week culminated with a lunch catered by ISU Dining. The team plans to continue a 3-day version of the activities annually.

With Erin Kruger Cavazos, a counselor at Harding Middle School, Miller established a communications hub for all eligible ISU 4U Promise students in grades 6-12 that connects students through an online app. The hub is designed to expand opportunities and facilitate direct questions and answers in real time.