SPRINGFIELD, Mo., July 21, 2026 – Drury University’s Center for Gifted Education was recently awarded a $65,000 grant from The Schneider Foundation, funds used to support Drury’s long-standing camps for gifted students, which the foundation has supported for over 25 years.
Donations from The Schneider Foundation are used to support Drury’s Summer Quest/Summer Pals, Summerscape/Drury Leadership Academy, Winterscape and Fallscape. Nearly 600 students have participated in programming this year.
“Giftedness does not guarantee success,” said Mary Potthoff, Drury’s director for the Center for Gifted Education. “The Schneider Foundation has supported Drury’s Center for Gifted Education for more than 25 years because they feel a responsibility to nurture and cultivate gifted students.”
Since 1981, the Drury Center for Gifted Education has provided programming for gifted children, their families and educators. Each summer, children from pre-kindergarten through high school attend Drury’s residential and nonresidential pre-college programs.
Former camper Amanda Moorhead, who counts a son, niece, and nephew among this summer’s campers, is grateful for the impact these camps had on her life.
“I want to thank Drury because some of my very best friends to this day are people I met at DLA,” she said. “I can’t overstate the importance of those friendships or how much that program added to all of our lives. What you all are doing is such a gift.”
About The Schneider Foundation
The first gift the Schneider family gave to Drury was in 1967 and the foundation has provided more than $1 million dollars to Drury in the years since.
The Schneider Foundation supports nonsectarian programs in the Springfield, Mo., area that offer educational enrichment opportunities for youth, ages Pre-K through 12th grade. Since its inception in 1989, The Schneider Foundation has granted over $8.8 million dollars to area educational programs. For more information, please visit www.theschneiderfoundation.net.
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Media Contact: Cris Belvin, Director of University Communications & Media Relations | (417) 873-7392 | gbelvin@drury.edu