Holiday Scholarship Challenge Begins Today
Today begins the Washington Apple Education Foundation (WAEF) Holiday Scholarship Challenge. This event is one of the new outreach activities initiated by WAEF this year to help high school seniors apply for scholarships.
23 high schools in fruit growing regions signed up to participate in WAEF’s Holiday Scholarship Challenge. Five seniors in each school have the chance to each win a $25 gift card. The first five seniors from each school that complete all four lessons on WAEF’s scholarship training website, www.scholarshipresources.org, will be awarded.
In each of the participating schools, a high school counselor, senior advisor, program leader, or scholarship coordinator has taken on the role of promotion and contest monitoring. Participating are A.C. Davis, Brewster, Bridgeport, Cashmere, Chelan, Chiawana, Connell, Dayton, Eastmont, Eisenhower, Entiat, Kennewick, Kiona-Benton, Kittitas, Manson, Omak, Pasco, Prescott, Quincy, Royal, Sunnyside, Wapato and Wenatchee high schools.
The Holiday Scholarship Challenge runs until January 10th. Timing for the event seeks to encourage students to work on their scholarship applications over the winter break.
Most years WAEF provides in-person scholarship training to seniors in nearly all of the 48 school districts in central Washington fruit growing regions. With restrictions on in person attendance due the pandemic, several new strategies have been and continue to be initiated to make sure this year’s seniors have access to important scholarship resources, including tips and strategies identified by WAEF over the last 25 years of reviewing scholarship applications.
The new website, www.scholarshipresources.org, follows the traditional scholarship training curriculum created by the foundation. Interactive quizzes, video messages from WAEF staff and volunteers, and professionally produced tips are provided in four focused lessons: Paying for College, Eligibility, Standing Out and Tips and Tricks. Additionally, students can download the scholarship training workbook that walks through steps in the scholarship research and application process. Guidance for securing letters of reference, understanding financial need requests, avoiding common errors, and connecting with the reader are all included.
Scholarship Tip Tuesdays on multiple social media platforms, a monthly counselor newsletter, and industry employer scholarship resource distribution in English & Spanish are also occurring now.
This year WAEF expects to award another $1 million in scholarship assistance to young people in central Washington communities with parents employed in the tree fruit industry. The deadline for students to apply for WAEF scholarships is March 1, 2021. Application details and qualifications are available at www.waef.org/scholarships.
The Washington Apple Education Foundation is the charity of the tree fruit industry. Its mission is to impact lives through access to educational opportunities. Annually WAEF awards over $1 million in scholarships to young people for fruit growing regions. In addition to financial support, students receive mentoring, career development coaching, and resources to encourage on-time graduation. Funding for WAEF is from voluntary contributions made by tree fruit industry members and community supporters.
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