Campus Connection

[caption id="attachment_13209" align="alignright" width="500" caption="From left, Kristine Mason and Jane Schley on a bike ride. Mason and Schley loved nature, learning and teaching. That love led to the formation of the Kristine A. Mason Scholarship Fund."][/caption]

Alum starts fund to support future teachers

Jane Schley remembers nature lessons on hikes through Myrick Park in 1974. Her new college friend, Kristine Mason, would pull down tree branches and bring the white pine needles to her fingertips. Mason would count the needles of the White Pine — w-h-i-t-e — five needles like the word. Mason loved to teach others about trees — she loved teaching and learning. On cool, quiet mornings, she would ask children and friends, "Would you like to learn to pet a bee?” Then, through the dewy leaves, she would pull back soft petals of a flower and pet the back of a sleeping bumblebee. She would ask her student to do the same. She listened to birds sing and was enthralled when a butterfly would emerge from its chrysalis, gently opening its wings. “We both really loved learning,” Schley says about herself and Mason. “We had key people in our lives who taught us that it was OK to contemplate a butterfly or to pet a bee.” Schley and Mason always believed curiosity needed nurturing to grow. They decided one day they would set up a scholarship fund to help others learn, grow and one day become teachers too. “We understood it was not just about going to school, but keeping that fire alive,” says Schley. Mason had plenty of curiosity throughout her college career at UW-La Crosse, but she struggled financially. After her undergraduate degree, she had to take time off from college to work and pay off her bills before beginning a master’s. She worked up to three jobs at times during her schooling and still managed to excel in her classes. “She taught me to challenge myself and take difficult courses,” says Schley. Mason earned her UW-L undergraduate recreation director degree in 1973. She went on to earn her master’s degree in library science in 1979 and became a media director in Eau Claire Public Schools where she taught for 25 years. Schley graduated in 1978 with a major in English and taught high school english before becoming a State Farm Insurance agent. After college, the two began to save for the scholarship. But in 2001, at the age of 50, Mason died unexpectedly before the fund was established. “I thought that it could be part of the healing process for me to pursue that dream we had together,” says Schley, who lives in Eau Claire. Schley set up the Kristine A. Mason Scholarship Fund for a junior or senior education major with a strong financial need. Preference is given to applicants who have a minor, emphasis or concentration in environmental studies or science because of Mason's strong environmental ethic. The scholarship was set up with help from Al Trapp, president of the UW-L Foundation. “I was at a sensitive point in my life. That first phone call was critical. To get Al Trapp on the phone was a gift from God,” says Schley. “He put me at ease with everything. So much of setting up a scholarship is making sure the family’s wishes are met. Even from the first conversation with Al, he knew when to stop and listen.” Schley says if Mason were here, she would be “tickled” by the scholarship decision. “She would be thrilled to know the money she worked so hard to save was going to help students,” says Schley. “It’s planting the seed, so they can go on and become the teachers. It is this perpetual ripple. It would really make her happy.”