2025 Scholarship recipients
Each year, NATAS-UMW Foundation awards several scholarships to students within our chapter region (Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa and western Wisconsin).
This year, thanks to help from generous sponsorship contributions from the Bob Fransen Family, The Ulysses Carlini family, The Beaurline Family Foundation, as well as our chapter members and past Gold & Silver Circle honorees, we are able to award scholarships to area students! This year’s scholarship recipients will receive $1,500 for tuition & books costs for school in the fall of 2025.
Since 2002, the NATAS-UMW Foundation has awarded 108 scholarships worth $236,000 to regional students who want to study media production or journalism in college.
2025 HIGH SCHOOL recipients
presidents scholarship
Piper Murray - Eastview High School (mn)
Piper Murray is completing her second year at Eastview High School’s student-run news program, The Flash. Piper has produced news stories and directed, and anchored numerous live-to-tape broadcasts, as well as one live-to-air broadcast.
Piper spent last summer at Penn State’s Bellisario College of Communications Summer Camp for high school students interested in broadcast journalism. The camp provided hands-on experience in anchoring, writing, reporting, videography, and editing, all while working in the college’s state-of-the-art studios and multimedia labs.
Next year Piper will study Broadcast journalism at Penn State.
GOVERNORS SCHOLARSHIP
Sailor Schervish - Theodore Roosevelt High School (IA)
Sailor Schervish divides her study time at two high schools. She’s a Senior at Theodore Roosevelt High School, but also studies at Central Campus in Des Moines, Iowa. Only fitting she plans on a double major at the University of Iowa in Communications and Cinema Studies.
Sailor has taken Film and Broadcast classes at Central Campus for two years, editing videos, shooting, writing, as well as running a full professional studio. She also competed in the 48-Hour Film Project in Des Moines in 2023, 2024 and plans to compete again this summer before going to college.
2025 COLLEGE recipients
BOB FRANSEN LEADERSHIP SCHOLARSHIP
Kaylynn Ruffin -
University of Northern Iowa
Kaylynn Ruffin is using her school experience to do media projects in the professional world. She is part of Hilltop media, a student organization on campus where business and local schools pay students to create media to promote a business or make films for the classroom targeted to keep people engaged and informed.
Kaylynn goes to local film festivals and makes campus content. Covering topics of music videos, scary and comedy short films, and informationals about campus topics. She has filmed the process of the Davenport Schools events and helped make the holiday video specials for the community.
ULYSSES CARLINI MEDIA SCHOLARSHIP
Bayliss Flynn -
University of Montana
Bayliss Flynn’s home is the Land of 10,000 lakes, but she’s getting her college degree in the Rocky Mountains. Bayliss is a starting goalkeeper on the University of Montana Women’s Varsity Soccer team. She’s studying Journalism and currently working at her school’s Newspaper producing bi-weekly podcasts for the Kaimin Cast
Bayliss was Minnesota’s first high school athlete to sign a Name Image Likeness deal (NIL) for soccer with the Minnesota Aurora. That deal allowed her to be a promotional spokesperson in commercials, billboards and public appearances. Bayliss also facilitated a press conference and conducted interviews with television, radio, print and podcasts on a local and national level.
Beaurline Foundation SCHOLARSHIP
Savannah Michele Reinke -
St. Cloud State University
Savannah Michele Reinke may study at St. Cloud State University, but she actually started in the Broadcasting Industry at 16 years old. That’s when she started at KMZU radio as a news anchor/reporter in Carrollton, MO. During the summers she still returns there to help with the news and marketing departments.
At SCSU, Savannah is active producing sports at Husky Productions, the student organization which broadcasts St. Cloud Men's Hockey Games on FOX9+. In 2024, Savannah was a Media Specialist for the NCHC Frozen Faceoff where she created multiple feature stories and teases that can be found on the NCHC social media platforms.