Higher education scholarships available to Pickerington students

Setting up to save

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Let’s face it – college is expensive, and trade schools aren’t free either. Luckily, scholarships can help soften the blow to the bank account and applying has never been easier.

Fairfield County Foundation

Over the last 14 years, Fairfield County Foundation has awarded an estimated $8 million in scholarship funds and is one of the best resources for scholarship seekers of all ages living in Pickerington.

Using a software program from Foundant Technologies, applicants can complete an online questionnaire that will filter through more than 130 Fairfield County area offerings to find specific scholarships the applicant is eligible for.

Much like the Common Application, this software also allows the students to apply for multiple scholarships at once. Many scholarships, however, will still request a short essay that pertains to the specific scholarship, and there are a few scholarships that only accept written applications.

Behind the scenes

Most of the scholarships offered through the foundation – and many others outside of the foundation – have a volunteer committee that works together to choose scholarship winners. Folks on these committees typically value candidates with high academic achievement, part-time employment and amicable community service hours. This is important for underclassmen to note so that they can prepare to be a top applicant for their desired scholarship.

There are also many scholarships offered to students who fit a committee’s desired niche. For example, the Brian Stoner Memorial Scholarship looks predominantly for candidates on the autism spectrum who plan to pursue a career in culinary arts or special education.

Even if you don’t seem to meet the characteristics of a preferred applicant, committees will often consider applicants who don’t meet all their preferences, so it is still worth applying.

“If they put in an hour and get $1,000, that seems like a pretty good return on investment,” says Andrea Spires, program director at Fairfield County Foundation. “Even if they don’t think they have the best grades or they think their family makes too much money, or whatever the case may be, just remember you don’t know what everybody else is like.”

From community service to Carmen Ohio

Many community organizations collect funds throughout the year to award scholarships to students who share the groups’ values.

The Violet Township Women’s League (VTWL) Community Service Scholarship and Ohio State Alumni Club of Fairfield County Scholarship are just two scholarships offered annually through local organizations.

The Ohio State Alumni Club of Fairfield County Scholarship is only available for students accepted into or currently attending Ohio State who live in or are from Fairfield County. The club receives most of its funds through Ohio State football watch parties, where they raffle off baskets of prizes.

Planning and hosting fundraiser events isn’t easy but Jonathan Jackson, the club’s president, finds it rewarding. For Jackson, affording college was an uphill battle and he feels empathy for future Buckeyes who also struggle financially.

“If I had had someone offer me a $1,000 scholarship, I would have just been so joyous that my heart probably would have burst,” he says. “So now that I have been semi-successful my entire life, I feel good personally trying to help out people that may be in need.”

The VTWL Community Service Scholarship has donated more than $130,000 in funds throughout its 23 years of existence. As the name would suggest, the volunteer committee puts the greatest emphasis on an applicant’s community service hours.

“Community service can be a lot of different things,” VTWL President Mary Larson says. “It can be like the Boy Scouts and Eagle Scouts, it can be going and helping out at the school for a fundraiser, it can be fundraising or doing things at church. It doesn’t have to be a specific community service, but it has to be community service that helps somebody.”

Pickerington Education Association’s Susan W. Hughes Memorial Scholarship and Pickerington PTO Scholarship are two scholarships rewarded only to Pickerington high school seniors. To learn more about available scholarships through Pickerington Schools contact your guidance counselor’s office.

Maisie Fitzmaurice is an editor at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at mfitzmaurice@cityscenemediagroup.com

Scholarships

Here are some of the scholarships that are specifically available to Pickerington students through the Fairfield County Foundation, including scholarships offered through The Rotary Club of Reynoldsburg-Pickerington. You can find these scholarships and many, many more on its website www.fairfieldcountyfoundation.org/scholarships.

For Studying Music, Art or Theater:

  • Ann Chess Fund
  • Bess H. Floyd Music
  • Hannah E. Thrash
  • James Caple
  • Lancaster Community Chorus Scholarship
  • Mindi Wendel Memorial

For Studying Education, Nursing or Dentistry:

  • Dr. Martha Gesling Weber
  • Dr. Phil Floyd Dentistry
  • Fairfield County Medical Alliance Healthcare Scholarship
  • Fairfield County Tuberculosis and Respiratory Disease
  • Fannie M. Howe Nursing
  • George & Marilyn Finnen Education Scholarship
  • Glenn R. Burns Dental Education Scholarship
  • Hocking Valley Dental Society
  • Jim and Sarah Miller
  • Lorelei Owen Gibbs
  • Robert E. and Marion A. Carr
  • Wilfred L. and Una H. Fosnaugh Scholarship

For Being Involved with studying Agriculture and/or Attending Vocational/Technical/Trade schools:

  • Bud Goodman Memorial
  • Keith Kumler Vocational
  • Pickerington Area Chamber of Commerce
  • Robert Knisley Fire Service
  • Violet Grange #1949 Scholarship

For Studying Computer Science and/or Engineering:

  • James & Viola Wayland Accounting & Computer Science
  • Charles C. and Barbara Claypool
  • Edgar A. Work, Sr.
  • George Sakas Memorial
  • Jack and Carol Burton Drugan Engineering
  • R. Brian Cline

For Pursuing a Career in Law Enforcement:

  • Officer Brett Markwood
  • Jim and Sarah Miller
  • Deputy Ethan Collins
  • Chad Edwards Memorial

Financial Need-Based: 

  • Wilfred L. and Una H. Fosnaugh Scholarship
  • Shannon Family
  • Roger Pedigo Memorial
  • Paul D. Beck
  • Mt. Pleasant Kiwanis