The Community Foundation for Crawford County is pleased to introduce Brooklyn Penwell, a 2026 recipient of one of the 20 Doug and Renee Leuthold Scholarship awards, one of the two Dr. Laurie Anne Rhodebeck Memorial Scholarship awards, and one of the 20 Margaret and Donald Wenner, MD Scholarship awards.
Brooklyn, the daughter of Kelli Fauber and David Penwell, is a 2026 graduate of Galion High School. She is attending University of Toledo and studying AYA Education- Integrated Sciences.
What inspired you to choose your intended major?
"I have been fascinated with the natural world since I was small, so I was very excited to take my first biology class freshman year. I quickly learned that, sometimes, knowledge of the material is not enough to excel. I would routinely perform well on reviews during class, but when it came time for the tests, I rarely scored above a "C." I studied for hours: I made notecards, used the study tools provided by my teacher, and reviewed every note I had taken during class. While it felt so unfair to do so well on the in-class reviews and barely get a passing grade on the tests, my mom assured me over and over that some people are smarter than their test scores show. I am proof of that. I was never rewarded or punished for my grades, but my effort instead. This gave me the confidence to keep trying. My grades have improved over the years as I learned how to study in ways that work for me. It still takes a lot of time for me to get the information to stay with me in a way that is useful during testing, but I am willing to put in the work and it shows. That is one of the reasons I want to be a teacher. I love science and want to share that love with future generations, but more than that, I want to help them learn to be their best selves. When a student is getting extra credit during class by knowing the information but still fails the test, I want to be able to pull them aside and help them find ways to retain the information that might work better for them."
What are your career and life goals after you graduate?
"My career goals are twofold. I want to have a career that allows me to live without struggling to pay my bills. I have grown up in poverty and do not want to continue living in poverty. I also want to have a career that allows me to help shape the future. I want to be a science teacher because I believe that learning about the world around us brings us closer to understanding ourselves. I want to ensure that my students receive an education that allows them to move through life with a better understanding of the world and the science behind events in the natural world, but I also want my students to feel free to be themselves without judgement. I will provide guidance, but it is not my place to judge the way a person feels about a topic, only to help them learn the unbiased truth."
Congratulations and good luck in the future, Brooklyn!
To learn more about scholarships offered through the Foundation, visit www.cfcrawford.org/scholarships
