SAN DIEGO – San Diego State volleyball player Mikela Labno was honored for her work in the classroom on Wednesday when she received a total of $2,500 in tuition assistance from the College Football Playoff (CFP) Foundation and Dr Pepper.
Now in its fourth year, the Go Teach Dr Pepper Tuition Giveaway is part of a collective six-year effort between the CFP Foundation and Dr Pepper, awarding more than $1.5 million in tuition to student-athletes looking to become teachers. This fund is in addition to Dr Pepper's Tuition Giveaway program and includes all 10 FBS conferences (American, ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, Conference USA, MAC, Mountain West, Pac-12, SEC and Sun Belt), the University of Notre Dame and HBCUs.
Each year, up to 150 student-athletes will be awarded $2,500 in tuition, and 11 grand-prize recipients will receive an additional $10,000 tuition grant – one student per conference.
A junior from Hilmar, California, Labno was one of eight student-athletes from the Mountain West Conference to garner the $2,500 tuition assistance. Boise State beach volleyball player Emily Garus was named the league's grand-prize winner on Dec. 6.
Labno appeared in 81 sets across 26 matches as a key reserve during the 2023 campaign, ranking fifth on the squad in kills (151) and kills per set (1.86) while posting 36 digs (0.44/set) and 21 blocks (0.26/set). The Aztec outside hitter surpassed the double-digit kill plateau in six contests this year, posting a season-high 12 strikes in the Scarlet and Black's 3-1 home victory over Boise State on Oct. 19. She also tied her collegiate best with two solo blocks in a win against San José State on Sept. 23 and at Utah State on Oct. 21.
For her career, Labno has started 19 of 76 matches at SDSU, compiling 487 kills (1.96/set), 145 digs (0.58/set) and 71 blocks (0.29/set) over the last three seasons.
An interdisciplinary studies major with an emphasis in education and communication, Labno is a two-time Mountain West all-academic honoree.
The CFP Foundation and Dr Pepper are dedicated to growing the Go Teach initiative to place qualified teachers in classrooms nationwide. Launched in 2018 through a pilot program at the University of Texas at Austin, the Go Teach initiative quickly expanded to a dozen schools by the end of 2019.
"Student-athletes make great teachers," said CFP Foundation Executive Director Britton Banowsky in a MW press release. "We are so thankful to have the support of Dr Pepper and conference partners like the Mountain West to help us identify student-athletes interested in pursuing a career in education so that we build a great pipeline of teachers."
The CFP Foundation is the largest sports entity supporting K-12 educators in America. For more information about the CFP Foundation, visit cfp-foundation.org.