Since she was a girl, Lauren Coglievina has dreamed of becoming an exceptional education teacher.
“I want to help students become the best they can be and achieve things they once thought unattainable,” she said.
Coglievina is making great strides in that direction through the teacher preparation program at SUNY Buffalo State. Along with working hands-on with schoolchildren with disabilities, Coglievina serves as the president of the Buffalo State chapter of Best Buddies, an international non-profit organization that promotes one-to-one friendships, equal employment opportunities, and leadership development for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
None of this would be possible without the help of the Gayle Fish and Donald Schrader Scholarship she received through the Gustave A. and Geraldine E. Werner Foundation. Each year, the foundation provides three full scholarships for exceptional education majors in honor of Geraldine Werner and two full scholarships in memory of Werner’s children, Gayle Fish, ’56, ’61, and Donald Schrader. Fish, who died in 2002, was a Buffalo State alumna and longtime exceptional education teacher.
“My gratitude for receiving this scholarship is immeasurable, and I will be forever grateful for being given this opportunity,” Coglievina said. “Through the aid of the scholarship, my dreams of becoming an educator are closer and reachable.”
