Martinsville Bulletin, Inc.
P. O. Box 3711
204 Broad Street
Martinsville, Virginia 24115
276-638-8801
Toll Free: 800-234-6575
|
|
 |
|
|
Paul Farrar, Southside loan coordinator for the Southside Virginia Tobacco Loan Forgiveness program, helps Victoria Truman (center), a Bassett High School student, fill out an online scholarship application Wednesday during a scholarship fair at the Career Hub. Looking on is Victoria’s mother, Barbara Truman. (Bulletin photo by Mike Wray) |
Thursday, March 11, 2010
By ELIZA WINSTON - Bulletin Staff Writer
Scholarships are available to help local students pay for college, and Henry County Schools’ Career Hub can help students find them.
The Career Hub began a three-night scholarship fair on Wednesday. During the fair, officials will offer advice about applying for scholarships and information about various local scholarships available to both traditional and nontraditional students, said schools Career Development Coordinator Melany Stowe.
The fair will continue from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. tonight and Friday at the Career Hub inside Liberty Fair Mall. Applications will be available, and representatives for some scholarships will be present to answer questions and help students.
“All of the organizations offer scholarships for high school seniors in the area, but some also offer funding for local nontraditional students,” Stowe said.
The fair is offered in partnership with the New College Institute, which will have a representative on hand each night. Both the Career Hub and NCI hope the fair will encourage residents of all ages to look for opportunities to help pay for school, Stowe said.
On Wednesday night, Sammy Redd, outreach educator for NCI, gave a formal presentation every half-hour. He spoke to students and parents about the importance of allowing enough time to finish the scholarship application process.
“In addition to identifying scholarships, students need to create a timeline so they have enough time to get letters of recommendation, transcripts and write essays,” Stowe said.
Those things often are required as part of the applications.
Last year, several scholarship fair representatives mentioned that a lot of scholarship money usually is not distributed each year because there aren’t enough applicants who complete all the necessary materials on time, Stowe said.
In addition to encouraging the students to apply for scholarships, the representatives at the fair know what made applications last year successful, she said.
“The initial reason to come to the fair is just to be made aware of all the scholarships and opportunities available locally,” Stowe said. “It can be intimidating to do a Google search for scholarships and find millions of responses, some of which might not be reputable organizations.”
All of the applications at the scholarship fair are for residents in the region. Although it is good to apply to state and national scholarships, the chances of getting a regional scholarship are better because fewer people apply, Stowe said.
Some scholarships are specific, such as the Spencer-Penn Alumni Association George W. Burton Scholarship, which is open only to those who either attended Spencer-Penn Elementary, are the direct descendent of a person who attended Spencer-Penn Elementary, or are a direct descendent of a graduate of Spencer-Penn High School. That scholarship is for $1,000 and is due May 1.
Many of the scholarship deadlines are in late March or April, said Stowe. The fair was scheduled so that students can find out about local scholarships and still have enough time to gather all the necessary materials before the application deadline, she said.
Scholarships for nontraditional students include the J.T. Mini Maude Charitable Trust, the Southside Virginia Tobacco Loan Forgiveness Program and scholarships through the Martinsville Area Community Foundation.
Other scholarships are offered only to graduating high school seniors, such as the Delvin Hairston Scholarship Award, Omega Psi Phi scholarship, the Oak Level Ruritan Scholarship and the Laurel Park Community Boosters Scholarship. The Patrick Henry Scholars program offers up to 10 local high school graduates a full-tuition scholarship for one academic year at Patrick Henry Community College.
For more information, call 656-2238. |
| |
|
|
.jpg)
.jpg)
