Gentex Foundation Awards $20,000 STEM Scholarship to Zeeland East Student

Left to right: Ally Torres (Manufacturing Chemist), Ashley Cramer (2025 scholarship winner), Seth Bushouse (Vice President of HR)

ZEELAND, Mich., May 7, 2025 – The Gentex Foundation selected the 2025 recipient of the Amanda Clark Scholarship, which supports female students who are pursuing science, technology, engineering, or math (STEM) degrees in college. This year’s winner is Ashley Cramer, a senior at Zeeland East High School who plans to pursue a computer science major at Kettering University.

Ashley will receive a $5,000 college scholarship for the 2025-2026 school year. The scholarship is renewable for up to three years for a total of $20,000 in college tuition support.

In her scholarship application essay, Ashley said her passion for technology skyrocketed when she joined Zeeland Public School’s (ZPS) robotics team. “As the head scout on our F.I.R.S.T. Robotics team, I created complex spreadsheets that take our quantitative data at competitions and transform it into strategic insight,” she explained. “I use these insights to make match strategies and our final pick list. I’ve found my love for spreadsheets and the back-end calculations/code through this experience.”

Ashley Cramer at a robotics competition.

ZPS English Teacher Corrinne Mielke said Ashley is always looking for new challenges to tackle, including finding ways for more students to develop an interest in innovative STEM fields.

“She has taken it upon herself to create new opportunities for the younger generation in our district to learn coding by organizing an elementary robotics team. She is responsible for planning out lessons and activities for students to do after school. Ashley’s efforts have been recognized through her nomination to the Dean’s List 2024.”

Ashley has also served as a Women Code Ambassador for Code.org. In this role, she was asked to speak to the Michigan state legislation and advocate for House Bill 5649, which requires all Michigan public schools to offer computer science. The bill was signed into law this year.

“I’m excited to explore my passions more in college and be a role model to other women who are interested in STEM,” said Ashley.

The Amanda Clark Scholarship was established in 2022 in memory of a former employee. It has awarded five student scholarships since its creation. For more information on how to apply, visit https://gentexfoundation.org/amanda-clark-scholarship.

Gentex Foundation

The Gentex Foundation provides grants to support a wide variety of causes, including economic development, business innovation, children’s services, education, public health, mental health, housing assistance, elder care, job training, family assistance, diversity initiatives, and physical and substance abuse programs. The grants support long-term and short-term needs in the community. For more information, visit gentexfoundation.org.