Claims is proud to announce that Ashley Street has been named the 2006 recipient of the magazine's academic scholarship. She was selected from a field of students based on her outstanding academic achievements while enrolled in the Katie School of Insurance and Financial Services at Illinois State University. The program prepares students for careers in insurance and risk management through on-the-job learning opportunities and internships.

Street said that she had been interested in pursuing an insurance career for about one year, after she took an introduction to insurance class at the Katie School of Insurance. She said she feels the Katie School has been her most valuable professional experience to date. While there, she was able to gain industry experience as a fire claim representative for State Farm Insurance through the school's internship and cooperative education programs.

"They have a Student Leadership Certification Program, [in which] the top 12 seniors are involved. We have leadership training and we're doing a risk-management project for a nonprofit firm in the Bloomington-Normal area here in Illinois," she said.