Family ties, lottery win inspire BHC professor to create scholarship
Nicole Banks and her family have strong connections to Black Hawk College that go back to the 1990s. When she won money in a lottery drawing in 2024, Banks and her husband decided to establish a scholarship to help Black Hawk College students.
“We are excited to be able to help students to pursue their dreams, and we’ve seen in our own families that Black Hawk College can be a wonderful first step in that overall plan for success,” said Banks, a BHC alum and English professor who has taught at the college since 1999.
Dr. Jeremy Thomas, Black Hawk College president, and Nicole Banks, scholarship creator, with Zenaida Landeros and Connie Herrell from the Black Hawk College Foundation
“My husband and I have talked about our desire to support students through a Black Hawk College scholarship at some point in the future (possibly when I retired or as a memorial for one of us),” she said.
But the Powerball win allowed them to bump up that timetable.
The interest earnings from their $10,000 donation will allow the Black Hawk College Foundation to annually award the new Schatterman/Banks Family Legacy Scholarship to at least one student.
“We are excited that by creating the scholarship now, we will be able to meet some of the students who will be aided by the scholarship,” she said.
Both Nicole Banks and her husband, Shane Banks, graduated from Black Hawk College in 1996. That same year, her mother, Roxi Schatterman, also graduated with her associate degree.
“My mother’s story was like many nontraditional BHC students,” Banks said. “After putting her passion into raising her children, she decided to take some time for herself and attend BHC to pursue her degree.
“My mother was determined to succeed, and our whole family was very proud of her when she graduated,” she said.
When Nicole and Shane Banks became parents, the Black Hawk College connection continued with their children, Bryan and Miranda.
The Banks children loved attending College for Kids in middle school and later returned to the Quad-Cities Campus to take college-credit classes. Miranda Banks earned her associate degree then transferred to Drake University where she completed her bachelor’s degree.
Miranda Banks and Nicole Banks at Miranda’s 2022 Black Hawk College graduation
Other members of Nicole Banks’ extended family – several siblings, her sister-in-law, nephews and cousins – have attended or graduated from Black Hawk College.
“We are happy to create this scholarship to recognize our own family’s strong connections to Black Hawk College,” Banks said.
“We are very grateful to be in a position to create a scholarship with the potential to help many students over the years,” she said.
Dr. Jeremy Thomas, president of Black Hawk College, said the Schatterman/Banks Family Legacy Scholarship is a powerful example of how one family’s commitment to education can change lives.
“We are deeply grateful to Nicole Banks and her family for their generosity,” he said.
“This scholarship will create opportunities for Black Hawk College students for years to come.”
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