The Gift Initiative Scholarship Open For Student Applicants

A Middle Gate Community Spirit Quilt created by third grade students in 2002 was successfully auctioned during showings of Newtown High School’s Sweeney Todd, and now The Gift Initiative scholarship, created to inspire students to do community service, is open for applications through June 1.

The quilt was created in 2002 after the then-Middle Gate Elementary School third grade students read Patricia Polacco’s The Keeping Quilt. Now that the third grade students are seniors in high school, Kelly Makuch, mother of one of the then-third grade students, oversaw selling the quilt at auction and helped to fund The Gift Initiative scholarship.

The minimum $50 bid for the quilt was met, according to Mrs Makuch. Mrs Makuch and her husband Ted also contributed $350 toward the scholarship.

To be eligible for the scholarship, students must complete community service hours between when the scholarship was announced and the application deadline of June 1. Students who apply for the scholarship do not have to be planning to attend postsecondary school. Students also must have been consistently enrolled in Newtown Public Schools since participating in completing the quilt at Middle Gate.

Applications for the scholarship will be reviewed anonymously, and the application is available in the Newtown High School’s Career Center.

Mrs Makuch said this week the intent of The Gift Initiative is to inspire students to complete community service throughout their life, and the auction was held to inspire others to help give students a head start.