ELL scholarship helps Cascade and Chelan students excel

CHELAN COUNTY — For over a decade, a locally founded scholarship program has continued to provide financial support to English language learners (ELL) at Cascade and Chelan High Schools, awarding tens of thousands of dollars annually to graduating seniors.

The Cascade and Chelan School Districts ELL Scholarship fund was started by retired teacher and Leavenworth resident Gro Buer, who spent a number of years teaching ESL (English as a Second Language) to Cascade School District students.

“Once I finished teaching at Cascade, I thought, you know, these guys really would like to go to college, but they have a hard time doing that, and if at least they got a little bit of scholarship that was just for them, not everybody, that they would maybe feel like they're getting a push,” said Buer.

Buer started a scholarship fund personally in 2013, then established a fund with the Community Foundation of NCW in 2017. The scholarship fund started with Cascade High School and expanded to Chelan High School, where Buer’s daughter, who also teaches ESL, was teaching at the time. Since 2017, the scholarship fund has distributed $318,000 in awards to nearly 150 recipients, according to the 2025 scholarship impact report. In 2025 alone, $45,000 was distributed to 27 applicants.

The requirements to apply are simple. Students must be a current senior or graduate of Cascade or Chelan High School, provide a passing Washington Language Proficiency Test (WLPT) score, and have a minimum 2.5 GPA. Buer said she landed on the 2.5 GPA after realizing that many potential applicants are also dedicating time to helping take care of siblings, working part-time, and still participating in extracurriculars.

Over the years, the fund has awarded scholarships between $1,000 and $5,000 to ELL students, many of whom are first generation college students. The 2025 recipients are studying to become doctors, educators, and psychologists, with one student even working towards becoming a school counselor for the Deaf and Hard-Of-Hearing. 

“They see their parents working really hard, bringing home not as much money as everybody else, and they want to do better. And there's so much support from the parents in a lot of these cases too, which is always heartening, because they want their kids to do better too,” said Buer.

Those interested in supporting the Cascade and Chelan School Districts ELL Scholarship can donate to the fund through the Community Foundation of NCW. To give online, visit cfncw.org/waystogive/, select “Give to a Specific Fund,” and search for “Cascade and Chelan School Districts ELL Scholarship Fund.” 

The application window for 2026 scholarships is open from Jan. 1 through March 1. Students can find the application by visiting the Community Foundation of NCW’s scholarship guide, which includes a list of nearly 150 regional scholarships: cfncw.org/scholarshipguide/.

Taylor Caldwell: 509-433-7276 or taylor@ward.media