Newsletter Fall 2025
Letter from the Board President
Kindle Samuel
Shortly after joining the board of Samuel Ready Scholarships in 2020, I began serving on the scholarship committee, a role that includes delving into intensely personal stories of families on a journey toward independent schools. By the time the girls were selected as scholars, I felt deeply connected to them, and even more committed to ensuring we were supporting the best possible outcomes for each one.
This commitment was a key driver as I led our recent strategic planning process. Through broad engagement with our stakeholders – current scholars and their families, scholar alumnae and leaders of our school partners – we learned both how our organization is seen, and how meaningful this work is as our scholars emerge as women out in the world. This process also helped us home in on vital priorities.
Samuel Ready Scholarships exists within the rich legacy of the Samuel Ready School. For 90 years, the school offered an extraordinary education and a home to young girls. From the very beginning, this home was intended as a refuge where girls could be cared for, educated and prepared well for the world. The Samuel Ready legacy was always about seeing and caring for girls’ holistic needs.
Today, after nearly five decades as a scholarship organization, we’re still guarding that legacy, working to care for our scholars as completely as possible. Through the strategic planning process, we’re also beginning to identify new ways we can support the girls on their “scholar journey,” as they enter, thrive within and graduate from independent schools, and go out to live remarkable lives, affecting the world around us in extraordinary ways.
I was honored to be elected Board President this summer at a fascinating moment for the organization. We’re shaping our forward-focused strategy while also preparing for the 50th anniversary of Samuel Ready Scholarships, a key milestone in our broader 140-year legacy. I look forward to engaging our entire community as we plan for our future and honor the extraordinary legacy that makes it possible.
Kindle Samuel
President
ALUMNA SPOTLIGHT
Chace Carter
Carving her path with “unmatched” support
When Chace Carter was in sixth grade at St. Paul’s School for Girls, two of the high schoolers she looked up to most were also Samuel Ready Scholars.
“They were just doing everything – basically running the school,” she said. “And I felt like because I knew them, I could be like them. Even from that young age, they made me feel like I could do all that I wanted to do.”
For Chace, being part of this cohort of talented, ambitious girls was just one of the extraordinary benefits of being a Samuel Ready Scholar.
Love and gratitude
Chace and her family started touring independent schools when she was in fourth grade. She immediately fell in love with St. Paul’s School for Girls.
“St. Paul’s always had my heart from the moment I got there,” she said. “It was definitely a community feel – very close knit, and everyone is special.”
She was accepted but didn’t receive enough financial aid to make it a viable long-term option. The admissions office encouraged her to apply again the following year. That’s when Samuel Ready stepped in.
“I just remember my mom being so grateful for Samuel Ready,” she said. “That was the start of it.”
Tireless cheering section
Chace thrived at St. Paul’s. Among her accomplishments, she was class president three times, and president of the school in both middle and high school. She received two awards from Samuel Ready Scholarships, the Sylvia L. Hackett Award and the Frances S. Meginnis Award, prestigious honors that recognize superior scholarship, contributions to the school, community service and leadership.
Chace also loved welcoming new Samuel Ready scholars. Near the end of her senior year, for example, she attended a Samuel Ready Scholarships event and met the new scholars headed to St. Paul’s.
“I tried to tell them about my experience, how good Samuel Ready and St. Paul’s have treated me. And I burst into tears. I told them, ‘You guys, you are going to love this whole experience. This is going to be one of the best things that ever happened to you,’” she remembered.
Chace graduated from high school in 2024 and is now a biology major at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. Looking back, she believes the support she received from St. Paul’s and from Samuel Ready Scholarships boosted her trajectory.
“I just knew that I had to succeed, no matter what, knowing that they were cheering me on,” she said. “These are people who know who I am, my goals, what I’m capable of. I just feel like that kind of support is unmatched.”
ALUMNAE NEWS
We love to hear from alumnae! It was especially fun when Beverly Heckart reached out earlier this year with an unusual offer.
A graduate of the Samuel Ready School, Beverly had purchased a set of 12 Samuel Ready School dinner plates after the school closed. Beautiful stoneware with a logo in gold and maroon, the plates have graced her table when she hosted guests and holiday meals. Now in the midst of decluttering and moving, she offered to send us the plates – a tangible memento of our history.
Beverly is a professor emerita of history at Central Washington University, where she taught for four decades. Her latest publication – Dresden: Portrait of a City – was published earlier this year and explores the German city’s turbulent history and resilient recovery.
Keep reaching out with your updates!
BOARD SPOTLIGHT
Louise Nankiinga
“The Samuel Ready Scholars blow me away by their intellect, grit, and passion for making an impact on the world. It is an honor to play a role contributing to this well-earned, life changing opportunity to attend some of the best academic institutions in Baltimore.”
READY FOR MORE
EVENTS
Spring Awards Celebration at The Bryn Mawr School
This spring, The Bryn Mawr School hosted the Samuel Ready Scholarships Awards Celebration. This annual event allows Scholars, their families, school administrators, and the entire Samuel Ready Scholarships community to celebrate the Scholars’ accomplishments, including contributions to their schools and communities.
Photo credit: Jessica Leigh Photography
One highlight of the event was hearing from April Walker, a Samuel Ready and Bryn Mawr School ’07 alumna, who spoke about her experience and encouraged current Scholars.
Photo credit: Jessica Leigh Photography
Each year, we honor our senior Scholars with a unique necklace to honor their time as a Samuel Ready Scholar and welcome them to our alumna community. We can’t wait to hear updates from college – and beyond!
Photo credit: Jessica Leigh Photography.
