Who was your teacher?
Honor someone who changed your life by changing the life of a foster youth.
A teacher. A coach. A mentor. A pastor. A foster parent. A counselor. A neighbor. A friend. Someone believed in you, encouraged you, opened a door, or helped shape the person you became. Now you can open a door for someone else — in their name.
Already have a foster youth scholarship? Submit it to be featured.
For sponsors
Create a scholarship in someone's honor
Individuals, families, businesses, churches, nonprofits, community foundations, and schools can establish a scholarship exclusively for current or former foster youth. You fund it and run it — in the name of someone who changed your life. Our free Starter Kit gives you templates for every step.
For foster youth
Find a scholarship made for you
Every scholarship featured here is exclusively for current or former foster youth — not general scholarships that merely allow foster youth to apply. When you apply, you go directly to the sponsor's own application. We never hold your information or your application.
Another way to help
Not ready to create a scholarship?
There are other meaningful ways to open a door for a foster youth. Through Help Foster Youth, you can give the Gift of Hope — the Clara Jean Doll™ with Take A Walk With Me — and make a difference today.
You’ll visit Help Foster Youth to complete your gift. Thank a Teacher does not collect funds or process orders.
How Thank a Teacher works
We inspire and connect. Sponsors fund and administer.
What we do
- Inspire people to honor someone who changed their life
- Provide a free Scholarship Starter Kit with templates and toolkits
- Verify that featured scholarships exclusively serve current or former foster youth
- Share honoree stories and refer foster youth to the sponsor's own application
What we never do
- Collect, hold, administer, manage, or distribute scholarship money
- Receive scholarship applications or select recipients
- Feature general scholarships that merely allow foster youth to apply
- Take on the sponsor's legal, tax, or compliance obligations
Our story
An idea 24 years in the making
It began with one teacher. When Clara Jean LaCelle was a teenager in foster care, her high school English teacher, Mr. Edward Mulvihill, saw something in her that she could not yet see in herself. Years later, she created a scholarship in his honor — and Thank a Teacher was born.