The Sister Margaret Guzzardo Scholarship in Speech and Language Pathology

Overview
The Sr. Margaret Guzzardo Scholarship in Speech and Language Pathology will be awarded to one graduate student each year who shows exceptional promise as a future pediatric speech-language pathologist and has a demonstrated history of community service. Preference will be given to a student wishing to pursue bilingual therapy studies. One annual scholarship of $1,000 will be awarded per year to either a first or second year graduate student. This scholarship is not automatically renewable; however, first-year recipients may reapply for their second year and all applications will be reviewed annually by a designated committee.

History
Sr. Margaret Guzzardo, MA, CCC-SLP, who retired from the Walker Scottish Rite Clinic in
2015, was nationally recognized by her peers with the 2014 American Speech-Language- Hearing Association Award for Special Contributions in Multicultural Affairs. Her career has focused on serving at-risk children, predominantly children whose first language is Spanish. Margaret developed the Spanish Speech-Language Program at the Walker Scottish Rite Clinic to address communication challenges in young children’s native language to promote mastery of Spanish and English language skills. This program continues on at the Walker Clinic at Maryville as her legacy.

Criteria
In order to be considered for the scholarship, students must meet the following criteria:

  • Student must be accepted and enrolled full-time in the graduate Speech Language Pathology Program at Maryville University for the designated academic year.
  • Students must submit two letters of recommendation written by individuals who know the student well, and who are able to evaluate the student’s potential for success in an academically and clinically rigorous graduate speech-language pathology program.
  • Students must also submit a personal statement of 1,000 to 1,500 words (double spaced) outlining their reasons for wanting to become a pediatric speech-language pathologist, their commitment to the field and any experiences they may have had in the realm of bilingual speech- language pathology.
  • A minimum cumulative undergraduate grade point average of 3.00 will be required (3.5 GPA preferred). However, emphasis will be placed on the personal statement and letters of recommendation when awarding the scholarship.