05/05/2026
Thank you to all of the scholarship sponsors, parents, family, friends, and students who joined us for our Awards Ceremony last night. What an incredible evening celebrating this yearโs recipients! ๐
While we work on pulling together a full photo album to share later this week, we wanted to start by recognizing two very special students.
A big congratulations to our ๐๐จ๐๐๐ซ๐ญ & ๐๐ฎ๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ฌ๐จ๐ง ๐๐๐ก๐จ๐ฅ๐๐ซ๐ฌ๐ก๐ข๐ฉ ๐
๐ฎ๐ง๐ recipients, ๐๐ฅ๐จ๐ง๐ง๐ ๐๐จ๐๐ง๐๐ก and ๐๐๐ง๐ง๐๐ก ๐๐๐ซ๐๐๐ซ๐ . What an amazing accomplishment and so well deserved. ๐
In total, ๐๐ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ฎ๐๐๐ง๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ซ๐๐๐๐ข๐ฏ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ก๐จ๐ฅ๐๐ซ๐ฌ๐ก๐ข๐ฉ๐ฌ, ๐ญ๐จ๐ญ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ $๐๐๐,๐๐๐ this year. An incredible reflection of the generosity and support behind this program.
Hereโs a little more about the Robert & June Paulson Scholarship Fund:
Robert H. Paulson was born in 1918 in Detroit Lakes, MN. His wife, June, was also born in 1918. The idea for a scholarship fund began when Bob was graduating from Detroit Lakes High School. Although he experienced the advantages of living in town, he recognized that many rural students did not have the same opportunity to continue their education.
Inspired by his motherโs commitment to community and education, Bob put himself through college at Bowling Green University in Ohio and went on to spend his career teaching in rural high schools. He and June also renovated homes and operated a small antique shop. The couple had no children of their own.
Later in life, the Paulsons spent winters in Arizona, where they expanded their antique business and started a mortgage financing venture to help fellow seasonal residents purchase homes. Through these efforts, they achieved financial security and were able to bring Bobโs long-held vision of a scholarship fund to life.
In 1994, they established the Robert & June Paulson Scholarship Fund to support Detroit Lakes High School graduates. This annually renewable scholarship provides meaningful financial assistance for continued education. The fund is managed by the Minneapolis Foundation, with Detroit Lakes Dollars for Scholars facilitating the local awards.
Robert and June Paulson both passed away in 2004, within three months of each other, after more than 50 years of marriage.
Because of their generosity, Detroit Lakes students will continue to benefit from their vision for years to come. ๐ค