Scholarships Available

The Newtown High School Career Center publicizes all scholarships of which it is notified.

A few of the scholarships, typically national ones, request that money be enclosed with the application. The Career Center believes that students should not have to pay to apply for scholarships. If a student chooses to apply for a scholarship that charges a fee, however, the Career Center strongly advises parents and students to check its authenticity through the FTC Consumer Response Center, www.ftc.gov or 877-FTC-HELP; the National Fraud Information Center, www.fraud.org or 800-876-7060; or the Better Business Bureau, www.bbb.org or 703-276-0100.

Hood Good Sport Scholarship — This scholarship is open to graduating high school seniors who have proven their ability by placing the spirit of competition above winning while participating in a varsity level sport. Students must have also earned a cumulative 3.0 grade point average or higher and performed volunteer work in the community. Applicants must also complete an essay explaining why they are a good sport on and off the field. Each student will then be voted on by the community in an online voting competition. Members of the public will then be encouraged to visit www.hood.com from March 7 through April 15 to vote for their “Good Sport.” The top ten students from each New England state who have received the most votes will be interviewed in May by a select panel of judges, and three from each state will be selected as winners. Applicants must enter online at www.hood.com by 3 pm on February 25. Scholarship winners will be honored at an awards ceremony and entered into the Hood Good Sport Hall of Fame.

Youth Design Awards Contest — Home Builders Association of Hartford County is sponsoring a design contest for high school students in grades 10, 11, and 12 enrolled in design or drafting courses. The contest consists of presentation drawings (black ink/pencil on white paper) of a residence and a design scale model. All entries must follow the specific rules and regulations of the awards contest. Complete information is available on the website www.cthomeshow.com. A new website is being developed and all entry materials are also available in the Career Center. All interested students must register by March 1, and deliver their entries to the Connecticut Convention Center by March 24 prior to 12 pm.

Future CPA Scholarship — The National Conference of CPA Practitioners and the American Institute of CPAs will award several $1,000 scholarships to graduating high school seniors planning to pursue careers as certified public accountants. Applicants must have a minimum grade point average of 3.3 and attend a two- or four-year college. Awards are made for the academic year following application, and will be sent directly to the college. All application information is available at www.nccpap.com, and must be received by December 15. The student’s guidance counselor should mail the application, essay, and transcript package to: National Conference of CPA Practitioners, 22 Jericho Turnpike, Suite 110, Mineola, NY 11501, Attention: Scholarship Committee.

Weller Education Scholarship — The Weller Education Scholarship recognizes and financially assists a high school senior planning to pursue a career teaching in public or private elementary or secondary schools with a $4,000 scholarship. Financial need is not a factor in determining the award recipient. Applicants must be seniors who are full-time students at Newtown, Joel Barlow, Masuk, Shelton, or Trumbull High Schools. An essay, 500 to 700 words in length, titled, “Why I Have Chosen A Career In Education” must be submitted with the application. Applicants must have a minimum grade point average of 3.5 or a class rank in the top 20 percent at the end of grade 11 and a minimum SAT score of 1710 and/or an ACT score of 25. Completed application forms with all required attachments must be submitted to Mrs Latowicki in the Career Center by February 22. An interview with the judges will take place on Monday, April 4. Scholarship application forms may be obtained in the Career Center.

Weller — The Vincent Voccia Vocational Scholarship Award — The Weller Foundation supports local students planning a career in the skilled trades. High school seniors who are full-time students from Newtown, Joel Barlow, Masuk, Shelton, or Trumbull High Schools may be considered. Each participating school will be eligible for one recipient to receive a scholarship equal to the lesser of $2,500 or 50 percent cost of tuition or fees of the vocational technical program proposed. The applicant shall demonstrate interest and talent in his/her chosen field, examples of eligible programs are auto/truck maintenance, aircraft maintenance, air conditioning/refrigeration, plumbing and fitting, culinary arts, machine design (CAD), carpentry, barbering/hairdressing, masonry, electrical or electronic technicians, photography, secretarial and photography. Certain nonlisted programs may be acceptable. Financial need will not be a factor in determining the award recipient. Applications must be submitted to Mrs Latowicki in the Career Center by Monday, March 14. The award recipients will be announced on or about Monday, April 4. The award recipients and their parents will be invited to attend the Foundation’s Annual Awards Banquet at Fairfield University to be held on May 2. In order to receive the award, students must attend the Awards Banquet. Scholarship application forms may be obtained in the Career Center.

Weller Medical/Health Sciences Scholarship — The Weller Foundation encourages and assists a local high school senior who has chosen a course of study in the field of medical/health sciences. Health care careers acceptable under this program are nursing, therapy, medical technology, paramedics, and other licensed health care workers who provide one-on-one health care to people. Programs leading to MD or PhD degrees are not eligible. Academic programs shall be a minimum of one year and a maximum of six years in duration with a maximum of four years of payments. The scholarship requires a 500 to 700 word essay titled, “Why I Have Chosen A Career In Medicine (Medical/Health Sciences).” Students must have a minimum grade point average of 3.0 and minimum SAT score of 1460 or ACT score of 20. All completed applications must be submitted to Mrs Latowicki in the Career Center by February 22. Applicants must attend a brief interview with the judges on Tuesday, April 5. Applications may be obtained in the Career Center.

Siemens We Can Change the World Challenge — Teams from across the country are challenged to create sustainable, reproducible, energy-related environmental improvements that can be replicated around the globe. Student teams, comprising two to four students, must identify an energy-related issue that has local, national, and global implications and provide a viable solution. Each team must have a designated student team lead and be under the guidance of a teacher/mentor. Top team prizes include first place $50,000 with an opportunity to present your project at an event at the United Nations, second place $25,000, and third place $10,000. Refer to the website www.wecanchange.com for the application, criteria, and suggested timeline. The deadline for submission is March 15.

Pace University’s Northeastern Regional Ad Competition — Pace University’s ad competition encourages high school students to help educate their peers on the dangers of texting while driving. All finalists will have the opportunity to present their work at Pace’s New York City campus and the winning campaign will be publicized regionally by Pace University. In addition, the top school and/or student will receive up to $1,000 in prize money and a $5,000 scholarship to Pace University. Deadline for entries is January 18. Refer to the website for competition rules www.pace.edu/adcompetition.

US JCI Senate Foundation Scholarship Program — The Connecticut JCI (Jaycees) Senate awards two $500 scholarships to Connecticut high school seniors and submits these candidates to United States JCI Senate Foundation for consideration for the $1,000 awards at the national level. The scholarships are designated for students who plan to continue their education at accredited post-secondary colleges, university, or vocational schools. The application process is online at www.ctjcisenate.org/ctjcisenate-scholarship_info.htm. The application requires background on financial, leadership activities, employment, up to five references, and a personal statement. It is vital that the applicant obtain the scholarship application for the state in which he/she resides. All materials must be postmarked by January 7.

National Co-op Scholarship Program — The National Commission for Cooperative Education, a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing high quality, college-level co-op education, offers a total of 170 $6,000 renewable merit co-op scholarships to high school seniors who are planning to participate in a college cooperative education. Applicants must have a minimum grade point average of 3.5. The program’s seven partner colleges/universities are Drexel University, Johnson & Wales University, Kettering University, Rochester Institute of Technology, University of Cincinnati, University of Toledo, and Wentworth Institute of Technology. To be eligible for a merit co-op scholarship a student must apply, be accepted, and attend one of the seven partner colleges/universities. The website www.co-op.edu has an online application and complete information about co-operative education. Early applications are highly encouraged for this program and applications must be postmarked by February 15.

Ronald McDonald House Charities US Scholarship Program — Students with limited access to educational and career opportunities because of financial constraints are eligible to apply for the Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) scholarships. Current high school seniors who will attend a two- or four-year college or university full-time are eligible. Refer to the website www.rmhc.org for application information.

Bohdan “Bo” Kolinsky Memorial Scholarship for Sports Print Journalism — The Connecticut Sports Writers’ Alliance will award a minimum of $1,000 scholarship to a high school senior in Connecticut planning to attend an accredited four-year college to pursue a career in sports journalism. There is potential for this scholarship to be renewed based on the student’s ability to maintain set criteria. Applicants will be judged on the basis of their promise as journalists and their ability to successfully complete college-level academic work. Application and supporting materials may be downloaded from the website www.ctsportswriter.org and must be postmarked on February 4 by 5 pm or received on Monday, February 7 by 9 am EST. The scholarship winner will be honored at the Alliance’s 2011 Gold Key Dinner in April at the Aqua Turf in Southington.