St. Charles North senior receives $2,500 P.E.O. STAR Scholarship

ST. CHARLES – On behalf of the International Chapter of P.E.O. Sisterhood, Chapter MW St. Charles was proud to present a prestigious STAR Scholarship to Laine Vande Hei at St. Charles North High School's (virtual) Senior Honors Night in May.

The P.E.O. STAR Scholarship is a $2,500 scholarship based on excellence in leadership, academics, extracurricular activities, community service, and potential for future success.

Hei is the daughter of James and Kristen Vande Hei of St. Charles. She will attend Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana, where she plans to study neuroscience, with a minor in music, beginning this fall.

The P.E.O. Sisterhood, founded in 1869, at Iowa Wesleyan College in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, is an international philanthropic and educational organization which promotes increased educational opportunities for women. There are nearly 6,000 local chapters in the United States and Canada with almost 250,000 members.

P.E.O. has given more than $366 million in financial assistance through ELF, IPS, PCE, PSA and STAR projects to more than 113,000 women to pursue their educational goals. The P.E.O. Sisterhood also owns Cottey College, a fully accredited, private liberal arts and sciences college for women, with two-year and selected four-year programs, located in Nevada, Missouri.

The STAR Scholarship was established in 2009 to honor exceptional high school senior young women, and in just 12 years, P.E.O. has honored 5,214 students with over $13 million in STAR scholarships.