A new scholarship, being offered through the Newtown Scholarship Association, is designed to offer one graduating Newtown High School student more options when selecting a college to attend.newtownscholarship.org/eligibilityMore information about the Newtown Scholarship Association is available online at newtownscholarship.org.

The Hertberg Family Foundation Scholarship will offer one student $10,000 for each of the four years of college. Lin Hertberg, one of the founders of the scholarship, explained he hopes the scholarship offers a student the chance to reevaluate college choices. The scholarship is being announced at a time when many students are still applying to attend college in the fall.

The deadline to apply for the Hertberg Family Foundation Scholarship is March 1. Mr Hertberg said the deadline is earlier than other scholarships because the foundation wants the student who is chosen to be able to make the decision about which college to attend knowing that more money is available to the student. It could make the different between selecting a college with a higher tuition or a lower tuition.

As this is the first year the scholarship is available, Mr Hertberg said, "I would like to have as many people understand this is available and apply."

Newtown Scholarship Association President Ted Kohler said his association was first notified about the scholarship in the fall.

"I thought it was a fantastic idea," said Mr Kohler, adding that he thinks the Hertberg Family Foundation Scholarship will be a tremendous success.

Mr Kohler and Newtown Scholarship Association board member Sherri Baggett worked to arrange the scholarship with the foundation. The Newtown Scholarship Association's mission, Mr Kohler said, has always been to offer need-basis assistance, and the new scholarship is consistent with that practice.

The plan for the new scholarship, according to Mr Hertberg, is to make it available annually to a new graduating NHS student. Mr Hertberg and his daughters - Ann, Bonnie, and Holly - created the family foundation and organized the scholarship. Part of the inspiration for the scholarship was Mr Hertberg's late wife, Bernal, who he said was active in the community and passed away in the mid-1990s. Mr Hertberg first moved to Newtown in 1971 from Ridgefield, and he hopes his daughters and his grandchildren will take over running the Hertberg Family Foundation Scholarship eventually.

"We'd love to have this motivate a lot of people to apply for the [scholarship]," Mr Hertberg said.

According to the Newtown Scholarship Association, the details for the Hertberg Family Foundation Scholarship are, "The recipient will receive $10,000 to be applied to their undergraduate college tuition. The recipient will have an opportunity to receive this scholarship in each of the four years of his/her college career. A complete application for continuing aid will need to be submitted annually in order for the student to be eligible for the scholarship during the student's sophomore, junior, and senior years. In order to be selected for the Hertberg Family Foundation Scholarship, the student must meet the following criteria: demonstrated financial need, exemplary work ethic, integrity, positive mental attitude, [and] highly motivated and goal oriented."

.Students who apply for the scholarship also have to write an essay. Students can choose to write an essay based on the prompt, "Discuss a passion, how you pursue it, any obstacles you have had to overcome in its pursuit and the role it plays in your life" or on the prompt, "What goals have you established for yourself and what have you done to achieve them?" To apply for the Hertberg Family Foundation Scholarship, the student must complete and submit an application to Newtown Scholarship Association by March 1. The application is available to download online at

Students who apply to the Hertberg Family Foundation Scholarship will fill out both the general Newtown Scholarship Association application and the Hertberg Family Foundation Scholarship application, which means all students who apply but are not selected will also be considered for other scholarships.

According to Mr Kohler, the Newtown Scholarship Association helped 170 students this past year, including continuing aid for college students.

"The last giving cycle represented $330,000," said Mr Kohler.

The general deadline for applying for scholarships through the Newtown Scholarship Association is April 1.

The Newtown Scholarship Association will oversee the applications and essays for the Hertberg Family Foundation Scholarship and any follow-up interviews with students.

The Newtown Scholarship Association was founded in 1937 and it holds two major fundraising events annually, a charity golf outing and a dinner in September. The events are announced on its website, according to Mr Kohler.

"There is a longstanding history of many families in town who have named and memorial scholarships established, and we are very proud to be entrusted with those funds by folks in this community," said Mr Kohler.