Neil Souther Scholarship

Amount Awarded Annually: $1000

Scholarship Information:

The Neil Souther Scholarship was created in 2017 in honor of long-time Latin teacher, Neil Souther, by a group of his former students.  The scholarship will be awarded each spring to a graduating senior who has demonstrated strong interest in the study of foreign languages, with a preference to a student who has taken at least two years of Latin.

Neil Souther taught in Bismarck for over 35 years, and continues to teach at other schools in his retirement.  Throughout his career, Mr. Souther taught Latin, French and English. During his career, he was instrumental in bringing the Junior Classical League to North Dakota, in the writing of the North Dakota foreign language standards, and in developing the introductory foreign language classes at the middle schools in Bismarck. He was, and continues to be, an inspiration to his students and fellow educators because of his passion for and dedication to learning languages.

In 2015, Mr. Souther was awarded the Sister Helen Kilzer Lifetime Service Award by the Foreign Language Association of North Dakota, of which Neil was an active member. He is involved in the local French club, travels abroad, and continues to study languages and cultures of the world.

Parents of Mr. Souther’s students also observed his remarkable gift as a teacher.  “My wife and I were both teachers so we know a great teacher when we encounter one,” said a father of two former students of Mr. Souther. “Neil’s impact on students is legendary. He was a real driver: demanding, exacting, pushing and pulling his students toward excellence. And they loved him! His excellence is reflected in the paths his students followed upon graduation.”

“Neil was awarded the Sister Helen Kilzer Lifetime Service Award by the Foreign Language Association of North Dakota, of which Neil was an active member. Neil, even though retired from the teaching profession, tutors students in the Bismarck-Mandan area in French, Spanish and English. He is involved in the local French club, travels abroad, and continues to study languages and cultures of the world.” (1)

Source: (1)http://www.annunciationmonastery.org/events/happenings.html/article/2015/04/15/neil-souther-awarded-sr-helen-kilzer-lifetime-service-award