Micah Bartlett was in the first generation of his family to graduate from college, earning an accounting degree from UIS and then going on to earn an MBA and his CPA license. Today Micah is president and CEO of Town and Country Financial Corporation. His wife, Peggy Bartlett, has also worked in banking. She now owns Colour Line Hair Studio in Geneva, Illinois. In 2008, Peggy and Micah visited a class with students from what is now the Prairie Area Teaching Initiative program, which helps to prepare students to become teachers. Many of the students in the program are first-generation college students like Micah. The Bartletts were impressed with the students' commitment and drive, and because they believe so strongly in education, they created a scholarship for students in the program.