The Wysham Scholarships at Kaplani School

Donors: The Wysham siblings, established to honor their parents Donald and Dorothy Wysham

Geographic Scope: Uttarakhand, India (Kaplani School vicinity near Mussoorie in the Himalayan foothills)

Purpose: To assist deserving young women with the cost of tuition and other expenses associated with attendance at Kaplani School

Institution: Kaplani School, run by the Mussoorie Gramin Vikas Samiti (MGVS) in the vicinity of Mussoorie in Uttarakhand, India

Rationale:

• Timberline Board determined these scholarships further Timberline's purposes, particularly as a counterweight to school attendance patterns in the Garhwal Himalayas
• In rural Garhwali contexts like Kaplani's, girls tend to truncate their school attendance at lower grade levels than boys
• Cultural perceptions that middle and high school education is less important for girls

Selection Criteria:

• Primary: Financial need
• Secondary: Strong character and commitment to others

Funding Structure:

• Donations to the Wysham Fund are placed in a permanently restricted endowment
• Scholarships are financed from earnings of the endowment
• Requirement that investments be "socially responsible"
• Contributions are tax-deductible

Background: The Wysham siblings benefited from a remarkable upbringing on the plains of the Punjab and in the Garhwal Himalayas, including outstanding education at Woodstock School

Application Documents:

• Formal endowment agreement detailing the Scholarship's mechanisms and donor motivations available upon request