Submitted
Salina Education Foundation has selected its 2025 Loan Initiative for Future Teachers (LIFT) recipients. The following five recipients were selected from a pool of 10 applicants by a committee consisting of Salina Education Foundation Trustees, USD 305 staff, and community members.
Abby Commerford – Abby is a senior at Southeast of Saline High School, with plans to attend Kansas State University and major in Elementary Education. She believes that teaching children to be kind humans in this world is such an important job. Abby wants to help students reach their goals and build intentional relationships while fostering accountability early. She wants her classroom to be a safe place for students and to help them to feel supported on any endeavor.
Elena Herbel – Elena is a graduate of South High School and is a junior at Kansas State University majoring in Elementary Education. She says she’s always known that she wanted to find a way to help people with her future career. She wants to be a teacher because she wants to be able to help others enjoy education as much as she has while growing up. In her free time, she’s usually at home, where she enjoys cooking, watching movies, playing the guitar, and doing crafts.
Lucas Nutter – Lucas is a graduate of Central High School and is a sophomore at Kansas Wesleyan University majoring in Music Education with an emphasis in Strings. Lucas realized from an early age that music was his greatest area of interest. He credits his music teachers for helping him to learn that perfection isn’t the goal – growth, persistence, and the joy of it matters more, and this lesson has shaped his approach to learning in all areas.
Charles Snyder – Charles is in his fourth year at McPherson College, studying elementary education, with an endorsement in special education. As a high school student, he would spend summers working as a youth sports instructor, which helped him realize a passion for helping teach children new skills. His grandmother was a special education teacher who also inspired him to leave a positive impact on future students, much like she did with her students.
Katie Snyder – Katie, a South High grad, is studying to become a High Incidence Special Education Teacher through Fort Hays State University. She credits the passionate, understanding, and dedicated teachers she had growing up with making an immediate and lifelong impact on her life. That impact is also why she wants to follow in their footsteps and pursue education as her career. Katie’s work as a para and as a coach has reaffirmed her passion for teaching students.
LIFT recipients receive up to $5,000 in forgivable loans, renewable annually after completion of their freshman year in college. Upon becoming certified teachers, they are eligible for hire to teach in USD 305 schools. Loans are forgivable for each year they teach in Salina public schools. The LIFT program is supported by charitable donations from individuals, local charitable foundations and Saline County businesses.
Salina Education Foundation is governed by a volunteer board of trustees. Established in 1987 it endeavors to promote and support educational excellence by providing resources to enhance opportunities for the students and staff of Salina’s public schools.