Jan Borja Memorial Scholarship
New Trier establishes Jan Borja Memorial Scholarship; donations now being accepted
Jan Borja
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Northfield, Illinois – New Trier High School will offer a new scholarship beginning next school year to honor the spirit and teachings of beloved former Northfield Principal Jan Borja. Donations for the Jan Borja Memorial Scholarship are now being accepted at http://newtrier.revtrak.net under “Scholarship Trust.”
Borja died in February after a lengthy battle with cancer. She retired in 2011 after spending more than 40 years at New Trier as a teacher and leader, including the last decade of her career as the principal of the all-freshman Northfield Campus, which she helped open in 2001.
Known by colleagues as the “heart and soul of New Trier,” Borja was key to integrating service learning into the Northfield curriculum and to addressing the social-emotional growth of students through efforts such as the anti-bullying campaign Names Can Really Hurt Us.
A committee led by current Northfield Principal Paul Waechtler will establish the criteria for students to apply for the scholarship. Waechtler said the committee will seek to honor the qualities of inquiry, service, and compassion, the three prongs of the New Trier motto. The committee will select honorees who best represent how Borja lived her life.
“Jan was a role model for our students, as well as for our staff and for the community as a whole,” Waechtler said. “We are establishing this scholarship so that future generations of students can understand the lessons of compassion and understanding that Jan modeled every day she was at New Trier.”
Credit card donations can be made through http://newtrier.revtrak.net under “Scholarship Trust.” Anyone wishing to send a check should make it out to “New Trier Scholarship Trust Fund” and indicate that the donation is for the Jan Borja Memorial Scholarship. Checks can be sent c/o Associate Superintendent Don Goers, New Trier High School, 7 Happ Road, Northfield, IL 60093.