OUR JOURNEY
From founding to $6,000 awarded.
OUR HISTORY
Follow the journey of four Oakridge alumni giving back to their community, from our founding to $6,000 in scholarships awarded.
2026: GROWING OUR IMPACT
Dylan Cunningham received the Oakridge Alumni Scholarship and Connar Bruesch received the Luke Layman Legacy Scholarship, each awarded $2,500.
2025: HONORING LUKE’S LEGACY
We established the Luke Layman Legacy Scholarship honoring our founding member Luke Layman, who passed away in 2025. Hailee received the Oakridge Alumni Scholarship. Hannah DeLora joined the team in 2025 and helped us receive our first corporate donation.
2024: FIRST SCHOLARSHIP
We awarded our inaugural scholarship to Rianna, marking the start of our mission in action.
THE BEGINNING
Four Oakridge High School alumni, Carson Evans, Jared Holter, Alex Shoop, and Luke Layman, founded the Great Lakes Empowered Scholars Foundation to support students from their hometown pursuing higher education.
To date: $6,000 awarded in scholarships, 3 students supported.
Great Lakes Empowered Scholars champions disadvantaged students by providing resources and opportunities to inspire and increase post-secondary enrollment. 