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.

Full details on all scholarships are available at the high school Career Center.

Princeton Prize in Race Relations — The Princeton Prize in Race Relations is a $1,000 cash award for high school students of any grade from selected regions across the United States who have demonstrated outstanding work in their schools or communities to advance the cause of race relations. Princeton Prize winners will also be invited to an all-expense paid trip to Princeton University to attend the Princeton Prize Symposium on Race, which will be held in the spring. This year the Princeton Prize will be offered in 22 regions across the country. Complete details are available at www.princeton.edu/PrincetonPrize. Interested students must apply by January 31.

Elks Most Valuable Student Scholarship — The Elks National Foundation will award 500 four-year scholarships, ranging from $1,000 to $15,000 per year to graduating high school seniors who will attend four year colleges/universities. Applicants will be evaluated on scholarship, leadership, and financial need. Applicants need not be related to a member of the Elks. Interested students should download the Most Valuable Student application from www.elks.org/enf/scholars. Completed forms must then be submitted to the local Danbury Elks lodge. Applications must advance through local, district, and state competition to reach the national competition. All applications must be submitted by November 2, no exceptions.

Big Y Scholarships — Big Y awards more than 300 scholarships totaling more than $250,000 to high school seniors, undergraduates, graduates, community college, and nontraditional students from its market area. Big Y employees and dependents are also eligible. All scholarships recognize academic merit and achievement and are awarded to the most outstanding students in the Big Y market area. Information is available at www.bigy.com. Applications are available in the Career Center. The postmark deadline is February 1.

Pepsi-Hispanic College Fund Scholarship — Pepsi and the Hispanic College Fund are promoting their college scholarship program for students during Hispanic Heritage Month. Go to www.buildurdestiny.com for the link to these scholarship opportunities. This year there will be five $4,000 scholarships and 25 $500 scholarships. The fund opens for submissions on November 16 and will accept applications through March 1.

CHSCA Scholar Athlete Scholarships — Six scholarships of $1,000 from the Connecticut High School Coaches Association (CHSCA) will be awarded to three male and three female graduating high school seniors from across Connecticut. Seniors are eligible to apply if they have earned at least one varsity athletic letter, have achieved a minimum 3.0 academic average and have demonstrated exemplary citizenship and leadership. Each CIAC-member school many nominate one boy and one girl to participate in the final selection process for the scholarship awards. The Career Center has the nomination forms for this scholarship program. All applicants who would like to be considered for a nomination from Newtown High School must return a completed Scholar-Athlete Nomination Form (available in the Career Center) to Mrs Latowicki in the Career Center by January 4. Winners and parents will be notified by the second week in April. The official ceremony will take place at the Outstanding Coaches Dinner held at the Aqua Turf Club in Southington in May.

Kay Wyrick Scholarship — The Foster Adoptive Mission will award one $1,000 scholarship to a high school senior from the greater Waterbury, Torrington, or Danbury areas in memory of Kay Wyrick, outstanding volunteer and child advocate. Students should have been in foster care for one consecutive year at some point in their lives. Applicants must meet GPA requirements and be a person of color, preferably African American or of African ancestry. Students should plan to major in a related field to working with children in the community and be accepted to an accredited postsecondary program of study. Applications are available from www.fosteradoptivemission.org and are due by April 1.

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 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 GPA of 3.5 or better on a 4.0 scale. The program’s ten partner colleges/universities are Drexel University, Johnson & Wales University, Kettering University, Pace University, Rochester Institute of Technology, University of Cincinnati, University of Toledo, and Wentworth Institute of Technology. In order to be eligible for a merit co-op scholarship, a student must apply, be accepted and attend one of the eight partner colleges/universities. Go to www.co-op.edu for complete information about co-operative education. The deadline is February 10 but early application is highly recommended.

Ayn Rand Essay Contests — Two national essay contests are open to high school student writers. A $10,000 first prize is awarded for an essay on The Fountainhead and is open to eleventh and twelfth graders. Essay submissions are due by April 25. Entries must be between 800 and 1,600 words in length. There are cash prizes for second and third place essays as well as for finalists and semifinalist essays. The essay for eighth, ninth and tenth graders is based on the novel Anthem and has a deadline of March 20. The top prize is $2,000 in this contest. Complete details are available at the www.aynrandeducation.com.

Countdown to the National Day on Writing — All high school students are eligible to enter the 2009 Countdown to The National Day on Writing Essay Submission by writing an original paper on a selected topic. Upon submitting the essay, the student will receive immediate feedback on how well his or her essay was written. Essays are scored by IntelliMetric, an automated essay scoring program used by more than one million students. A panel of experts will then select the best essays from each age category. The winner in each age category will receive a $100 gift certificate. This year, high school contestants are expected to write a reflection about a memorable childhood event. All entries must be submitted by October 20. Complete details are available at www.vantagelearning.com/contests/national_writing_day/index.html.

Future CPA Scholarship — The National Conference of CPA Practitioners, Inc, 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. Last year there were ten scholarships awarded through this national program. Applicants must have a GPA of at least 3.3 on a 4.0 scale and attend a two- or four-year college in the summer/fall semester of 2010 as full-time students. Awards are made for the academic year following application, and will be sent directly to the school for credit to the account of the student recipient. All applications must be received by December 15. Mail the complete application prior to this date.

Teachers Against Prejudice — This national essay contest requires high school students to write a 1,000-word essay on a specific question regarding prejudice and the media. The top prize in the high school category is a $300 savings bond followed by $200 and $100 bonds for second and third place, respectively. The specific question and complete rules are available at www.teachersagainstprejudice.org. All entries must be postmarked by December 15.