The annual award provides financial support for college students who are preparing to be teachers.
The NEA-Retired Jack Kinnaman Memorial Scholarship is named after a former NEA-Retired Vice President who was a passionate advocate for students who face financial challenges. After Kinnaman died in 2002, his family honored his legacy by creating a scholarship that supports NEA Aspiring Educators (AE).
The generous support of NEA-Retired members has sustained the fund for more than 20 years. Congratulations to Matt Yuro, former NJAEA officer, who was one of this year’s five recipients awarded $3,500 to use toward their studies!
Matt is a triple major in special education, elementary education and history at the College of New Jersey.
“My time in the NEA student program has been nothing short of transformative for my leadership growth as an educator,” Yuro says. As vice president and former president of the New Jersey Aspiring Educators Association, he’s led advocacy campaigns for paid student teaching, certification reform, and increased pension access. He revised his campus chapter’s constitution to ensure more inclusive leadership, founded the “Pack-A-Backpack,” a school supply drive to help students in need, and created a diversity, equity, and inclusion position for his campus AE program.
With a vision for classrooms based in justice and empathy, Yuro looks forward to using this scholarship to reduce his work hours and to deepen his focus on teaching and community impact.