Drury receives $65K grant for gifted camps

Last edited 1:39 p.m., July 23, 2026 [Editor's note: A typo in the headline has been fixed.]

Drury University received a grant to support its long-standing camps for intellectually gifted students.

The Schneider Foundation has supported the camps for more than 25 years, and the new grant is for $65,000.

Started in 1981, Drury’s Center for Gifted Education provides programming for area students in preschool through grade 12. There are also learning options for families and educators.

The gifted programs are called Summer Pals, Summer Quest, Summerscape and the Drury Leadership Academy. Most of the programs are during the summer, but Drury also offers day-long enrichment events in the fall and winter.

Drury officials said nearly 600 students have participated this year.

“Giftedness does not guarantee success,” said Mary Potthoff, director of the Center for Gifted Education, in a July 21 news release. “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.”

In the release, former camper Amanda Moorhead said the experiences have impacted her life and added her son, niece and nephew have attended.

“I can’t overstate the importance of those friendships or how much that program added to all of our lives,” Moorhead said. “What you all are doing is such a gift.”

Drury said the first gift from the Schneider family was in 1967, and the foundation has provided more than $1 million over the years.