The Jeri Gilfillan BSS Graduate / PND Student Tuition Assistance Fund

This non-endowed fund was started in July of 2022 by Paul Gilfillan in honor of the retirement of his wife, Jeri Gilfillan who taught for 34 years at Blessed Sacrament School in Morton, IL.  In honor of her dedication to BSS students and Peoria Notre Dame High School, and beginning with the 2022-23 PNDHS school year, this Fund is established to provide tuition assistance to BSS graduates that attend PNDHS and who had Jeri Gilfillan as their PE teacher.

Jeri Murphy's family (parents Bob and Nancy, siblings Mike, Judi and Julie) moved to Morton in 1963. Jeri graduated from Blessed Sacrament School, Academy of Our Lady and Illinois State University, at which time she was hired to teach 3rd grade at BSS for the 1978-79 school year, becoming the first BSS graduate to return to the school to teach. During that year she married and Miss Murphy became Mrs. Gilfillan.

After putting her husband, Paul, through law school in Indiana while teaching Special Education, Jeri's growing family returned to Morton where she served BSS in a volunteer capacity for the next six years, including serving as the cheerleading moderator and as president of its Commission on Education.

When the Physical Education teaching position came open Jeri decided to take it for a year or two. Thirty-three years later Jeri retired in May of 2022 after teaching hundreds of BSS students, including her own three sons who graduated in 1996 (Ben), 1998 (Mitch) and 2007 (Cody). Along the way Jeri also volunteered as co-athletic director and as Eucharistic Minister for all-school Masses.

After her love for Blessed Sacrament students, Jeri's experience with Peoria Notre Dame, the successor to AOL, has left a life long impression. During the many years of her children's attendance at PND, Jeri volunteered in many capacities, including being the BSS parent representative for 9 years, where she worked on overnight graduation lock-ins, ring day ceremonies, teacher appreciation luncheons and more. She also worked with the PND Boosters in running concession stands for multiple athletics seasons.

The relationships she established with students, fellow parents and staff of both BSS and PND last to this day. In honor of her dedication to BSS students and PNDHS, and beginning with the 2022-23 PNDHS school year, this Fund is established to provide tuition assistance to BSS graduates that attend PND and who had Jeri Gilfillan as their PE teacher.

Qualifications for this Scholarship:

Beginning with the 2022-23 school year and continuing through the 2034-35 PND school year, each BSS graduate that meets these criteria will be eligible to receive tuition and fee assistance from this fund for each consecutive year they attend Peoria Notre Dame (not to exceed 4 years), in an amount to be determined by the donors, consistent with the terms of the fund at the Morton Community Foundation: 

1.  Must graduate from BSS between school years 2018-19 and 2030-31, inclusive.
2.  Must have had Jeri Gilfillan as their Physical Education teacher prior to June 1, 2022.
3.  Must attend Peoria Notre Dame High School in consecutive years, 4 years maximum.

If you would like to make a tax deductible donation to this endowment fund, please click the button below for online donations.  Or, you can mail a check to 135 S First Ave, Morton, IL 61550. Be sure to designate the Jeri Gilfillan Scholarship Fund on the memo line or on a note in the envelope. 

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