“Education, care, and compassion for children defined her,” says Bill Conover about his late wife Mary N. Conover. After several months of thinking about the best way to memorialize Mary’s impact on his life and in the lives of so many, Bill decided to create an endowed scholarship at the Community College of Aurora Foundation to financially assist students pursuing a degree in early childhood education.
Although her career started in accounting in New York, when Bill and Mary moved to Aurora and their children started school, Mary became a para-teacher at their children’s elementary school. Quickly discovering her passion for teaching, Mary enrolled at the Community College of Aurora where she earned her degree in early childhood education. As a director of early childhood education and as an elementary school teacher, Mary served thirty-three years with the Aurora Public Schools.
Mary loved kids and it showed every day. Bill remembers one cold winter evening that Mary came home upset that one of her students had badly worn shoes, no socks and only a thin windbreaker to wear. The next day, the student found his locker filled with new shoes, socks, and a winter coat. Even in retirement, she continued to serve as a substitute teacher in Aurora’s special education classrooms. As Bill says, “Dedication to children was what she was about.” It is an honor for the CCA Foundation to partner with Bill Conover to create the Mary N. Conover Memorial Scholarship for Early Childhood Education. Through the endowment, a $1,000 scholarship will be provided each year to help prepare Aurora’s next generation of early childhood education leaders.
To learn more about the Mary N. Conover Memorial Scholarship or about how you can create an endowed scholarship to help CCA students earn their college degree, contact the CCA Foundation at 303-360-4833.