September 27, 2000 NEWS RELEASE
HOW CSF SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS ARE SELECTED
The Citizens Scholarship Foundation of BGM has used the same system since the start of the foundation in 1989.
Each student who wants to apply for a scholarship must fill out an application that is made available from the foundation. In 2001, the applications will be handed out during the school day on March 1st at 9:15 in the high school library. The applications must be turned back in by March 30th. Since the financial status is no longer needed, we will not have a special night to turn in the applications. The application can be turned in at the counselors office at the high school or mailed to CSF at Box 469. If you are late turning in your application, you will not get a scholarship.
Each scholarship granted is based on the points that are scored from the applications. The breakdown is as follows:
Points
Personal data – work experience 40
School involvement – non sports 100
School involvement – sports 50
Community involvement 50
Aspirations and goals 20
Unusual circumstances 45
Grade Point average 100
Number of yrs as student at BGM 60
Total for 2001 465
There is a section within the application for each of the above criteria. It is very important that the student fills out each section as completely as possible in order to get the maximum number of points.
Once the applications are graded and points applied, then the highest point applications are given the largest scholarships available to them. No one person knows which application has scored the highest until after the applications are matched up with the scholarships.
The foundation makes sure that no one person can determine who gets what scholarship. We feel that it is very important to make sure that everyone is treated fairly.
There have been questions about what happens when a student moves into the school district as a senior and he or she gets a scholarship. The Board of Trustees has considered that and that is why points are awarded based on the number of years the student has been in the school system. Based on the above points, a student who moved in, as a senior would score 5 points while a student who has lived here his or her entire school years would score 60 points. That 55 points difference would make a major difference in the total score the students would get.
One of the benefits that the foundation hopes the community would get from giving students scholarships is for the student to move back to the area after graduating from college. We have three students who received scholarships from us and have come back to teach in the school system. This is just an example of what we hope will happen as time passes. Another goal is to have families move here because of the scholarships. If we can assist the school district in growing, that is good for all of us. We believe that everyone knows how important the school system is to our area.
The foundation feels that the application process is as fair as we can get it. Everyone would like to get the largest grants but that is not possible. As the foundation continues to grow, more scholarships and larger scholarships will happen. But the foundation can only grow if each family or business in the school district supports us. Your donation no matter how large or small adds up when many people contribute. To date, we have had 610 donors from 28 states. We are very proud of that fact.
Anyone wishing to make a contribution to the foundation please contact Virginia Ricketts member at large for the Board of Trustees, or any other board member. You can also write to Box 469, Brooklyn, IA 52211.
Saying for the week: The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. --Eleanor Roosevelt