\u201cMontclair State is my passion; I loved every day,\u201d says Patricia Crosby Ackershoek \u201959, \u201971 MA, who recently retired after 40 years as a high school teacher of physical education and driver\u2019s education in Paterson, New Jersey. \u201cMontclair State gave me a wonderful career. I always wear red for Montclair State.\u201d<\/p>\n
A longtime donor and alumni volunteer, Ackershoek recently added a provision in her will for a scholarship for future educators. \u201cTo leave something in your will to help students benefit through scholarships is very meaningful to me,\u201d she says. \u201cMontclair State was a huge part of my life\u2014first as a student, then as a volunteer and leader. I wanted to help another student who\u2019s interested in education and becoming a teacher.\u201d<\/p>\n
She lauds the work of the Alumni Association and has served on the executive council, helped create Alumni Green and the alumni legacy scholarships, helped freshmen on Move-In Day, and helped plan events, including her 50th reunion in 2009.<\/p>\n
The 2007 Paterson district Teacher of the Year, Ackershoek always encouraged her students to apply to Montclair State\u2014and several did attend, as did two of her cousins. Many of her students were the first in their families to attend college, as was she. Ackershoek created six high school scholarships at John F. Kennedy High School in Paterson in her late husband Nicholas\u2019 memory and has continued to fund them for the last 14 years.<\/p>\n
Ackershoek says she got the idea for the bequest from a friend, Maria Schantz \u201960 MA, who also is in the Carpe Diem Society, Montclair State’s planned giving group. Her advice to alumni is to \u201cget connected\u2014come back home!\u201d<\/p>\n
Have you thought about your own legacy at Montclair State? Visit Planned Giving<\/a> or contact Ely Santoni at 973-655-7298<\/a> or santonituere@montclair.edu<\/a> for more information.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n