The Velma and Harry Cotterill Memorial Scholarship in the College of Education and Human Development provides funds in support of student teaching internships to eligible students majoring in education who demonstrate financial need, with academic merit as a secondary consideration.
Awards from the Cotterill scholarship are intended to honor the lives of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Cotterill of Jackson, Michigan. The Cotterills provided unwavering encouragement and support to the young people in their extended family to complete a college education. This scholarship is intended to honor and continue the spirit of that tradition.
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Scholarship Requirements
This scholarship supports students during a critical time in their education: the teaching internship. The award funds shall be credited to the student's account for tuition and fees. The award is not renewable. Criteria include:
- Full-time undergraduate student enrolled in teacher education curriculum
- Preference given to eligible students who demonstrate financial need; academic merit a secondary consideration
- Preference given to students who plan to become teacher certified
- Preference given to students who exhibit exemplary character
- Preference given to students who are U.S. citizens
About the Cotterill Family
Harry Cotterill and Velma Hoffman were married in Jackson in 1941. Velma was an elementary school teacher who graduated from Western State Teachers College (now WMU), and Harry worked at the Goodyear Tire factory in Jackson. World War II was in progress, and Harry served the war effort by working in the tire factory, which had been converted to making large, wheel-mounted artillery guns for the U.S. Army.
Velma was born in 1909 in a log house on a 140-acre farm near Nashville, Michigan. She had two brothers. Her parents instilled values of hard work, independence and respect for others, tempered with optimism, kindness and generosity, all which served her well over her 97 years. She was a lifelong advocate of education. That view was instilled by her mother, Evelyn Oversmith Hoffman, who never had the opportunity to attend college but tried hard to assure that her three children did.
Even as a child, Velma wanted to be a teacher. Rather than play “house,” she would play “school,” she said. She completed her studies at Western State Teachers College in 1930, one of her proudest lifelong achievements. During her student teaching days in Paw Paw, Michigan, Velma found it difficult to pay for school, having less time for a job. Her scholarship is intended to help with that timeless issue. After graduation, Velma taught public school grades 1-4 in the Michigan cities of Ironwood, St. Johns and Jackson for more than 25 years. She was always proud to be a teacher. She had many interests, including reading, nature, current events, and just being with family or friends.
Harry Cotterill was born in 1911 in Oakland City, Ind., near the Kentucky border—an area well known for its coal-mining industry. The youngest of five children in a close-knit farm family, he recalled “It was pretty hard living, but we enjoyed every minute of it.” After graduating from high school he moved to Akron, Ohio, to work for the Goodyear Tire Company.
He attended the Goodyear Business University in the evenings, studying sales and marketing. Unfortunately, he was laid off during the Great Depression and never did finish those studies. He remained with Goodyear for more than 40 years, mostly in production management. Friendly, unpretentious and down-to-earth, he loved gardening and seeing things grow. A kind and gentle father, he was an ever-mindful, strong advocate of the importance of a college education in the lives of young people.
Harry Cotterill passed away in 1998; Velma followed in 2007. Their legacy lives on in the scholarships bequeathed in their name.