2008 Scholarship for Bloggers

We are now accepting submissions for the blogging scholarship, and the submission deadline is October 30th, 2008. One lucky blogger will be eligible for the $10,000 grand prize.

Our panel of judges will decide on 10 finalists and public voting will be enabled the morning of November 3rd. Voting will be closed on November 17th 2008. During this time, check our blog for announcements, updates, finalists, and voting information.

New Teaching Fellowships Mean Business

Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation: Millions in Teacher Funding

The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation is tackling the critical shortage of good teachers with a boatload of invaluable graduate fellowships for new grads and for career changers and professional teachers. The program is two-fold:

• National Fellowships: Applications for the Lenore Annenberg Teaching Fellowships will be available in fall 2008. The awards are designed to hand-select some of the best grad level teaching students from around the country. Recipients will attend prestigious programs at Stanford University, University of Pennsylvania, University of Virginia, and the University of Washington.
• State-based fellowships in all 50 states will eventually be the norm. Beginning in 2009, though, the flagship program will launch in Indiana. Between Ball State University, Purdue University, University of Indiana and Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis, 20-$30,000 fellowships will be awarded to remarkable education majors from a national pool. The Woodrow Wilson Indiana Teaching Fellowships will target grad students specializing in math and science. Recipients must agree to work as teachers in Indiana for no less than three years following graduation.

Full university fellowships are accompanied by $30,000 stipends apiece for both programs and the future goals are lofty: roll out in all 50 states, Ohio the first to follow Indiana. State programs are eager to turn around disadvantaged urban and rural schools that currently suffer from lack of experienced and talented teachers.

Eligibility terms:

• Senior education undergraduates and professional teachers and career changers are invited to apply for awards.
• Applicants must possess a Bachelors degree in teaching.
• Academic excellence combined with proven dedication to teaching is a must.
• Applicants will be asked to write personal essays and participate in a panel interview.

How to Apply:

**Interested education grad students and teaching professionals: Contact the participating schools listed above or the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowships Foundation for comprehensive details.

The Bratz Scholarship

$60,000 to Be Given Away to Students with Passion and Spirit

Popular teen BFFs, The Bratz, have launched a $60,000 scholarship contest as part of their newest DVD release: “Bratz: The Movie.” The good news is you don’t have to buy or even watch the new DVD to participate.

Who are the Bratz? The Bratz girls started life as animated characters: each wholesome and sassy in her own peculiar way. Each character personifies a particular characteristic that sets her apart, makes her a standout, an individual, an inspiration to pre-teens and teens often vulnerable to peer pressure. For example, Sasha is passionate about music and goes for the gusto; Yasmin is the introvert, with a totally individual fashion sense, and Chloe is big into soccer and photography. And the list of Bratz goes on.

What you really need to know:

Four winners in the Bratz Scholarship contest will each receive a $15,000 scholarship.

**Scholarships are in U.S. Savings Bonds, valued at $7,500 at issuance and $15,000 at maturity.

How to enter:

• U.S. residents between the ages of 5 and 18 are eligible.
• Download an Entry Form and fill it out. If you are under 18 a parent or guardian must sign the form.
• Write a 150-word essay that answers this question: “What are you most passionate about in life and how would you ultimately like to use this scholarship to help you grow?”
• Essays must be in English, original work, and may be hand printed or typed.

You only have a very short 150 words to convey your thoughts to the contest judges. Three things they are looking for in the winning essays:

• Creativity
• Passion
• Originality

Contest Deadline:

All entry forms and essays must be postmarked no later than May 31, 2008. Visit the Bratz website for complete official rules, entry form and mailing address

It’s Simple–Eat Burgers, Win Scholarships

Bumpers Drive-In Scholarship Contest Adds an “Early Bird” Award

The Bumpers Drive-In Discover Mississippi Scholarship Contest is a staple for Mississippi college-bound students. The annual contest will run from January 18, 2008 to March 31, 2008. As usual, junior and senior high school students from around the state are welcome to compete for scholarships.

This year, Bumpers has added a new $2,500 “Early Bird” scholarship.

This is how the contest works:

There are 12 Bumpers Drive-In locations throughout the state. You pick up an initial “Passport” entry form from your closest Bumper’s. To qualify for any of the scholarships you must drive around the state (discover Mississippi) and hit all 12 Bumper’s locations. At each Bumper’s you get your Passport stamped. A full passport constitutes an entry for scholarships between $1,000 and $10,000 each.

The Early Bird contestants must have their Passport stamped by all Bumpers locations by 10 pm January 21, 2008, or within the first few days of the contest. That’s some serious burger eating and driving.

Who’s eligible to enter?

• You must be a high school junior or senior and a resident of Mississippi.
• You must have a legal driver’s license and if you’re under 18, a parent’s signature on your contest entry (Passport).
• You must be planning on attending college following graduation.
• You must have a Passport officially stamped by each of the 12 Bumpers in the state.

Find complete rules and a downloadable map of all the Bumpers locations on the scholarship website.

If you don’t make the initial Early Bird contest, you may still fill up your Passport entry form for a chance to win one of 17 other scholarships valued between $1,000 and $10,000:

Besides the one Early Bird scholarship, these are the other awards:

• 2-$10,000 awards
• 1-$5,000
• 2-$2,500, one of which goes to a current Jackie’s International employee (Bumpers, Western Sizzlin’, etc)
• 6-$2,000 regional scholarships
• 6-$1,000, 5 of these go to contestants that are on-site for the April 19 final drawing.

Remember, the Bumpers Drive-In Discover Mississippi Scholarship Contest begins on January 18, 2008 and ends on March 31, 2008. The Early Bird Scholarship ends at 10 pm January 21, 2008. By April, Bumpers will give away over $50,000 in scholarships. Why miss out?

Engineering Students: Steel Industry Scholarships

American Iron and Steel Institute To Hand Out $20,000

The Association for Iron and Steel Technology Foundation has recently announced the addition of a new student scholarship to its already rich list of student scholarship programs. In partnership with the American Iron and Steel Institute, the AISTF will hand out the AISI/AIST Foundation Premier Scholarship in 2008. This $20,000 award (2-$10,000 gifts paid over two years) promises to recognize a top-notch student in a metallurgy or materials science major. The secondary purpose of the scholarship is to boost interest in the American steel industry and to encourage academic studies in the field.

Eligible students must be:

• Currently enrolled in a “technical engineering” degree program with a GPA of 3.0
• Open to a paid internship in the steel industry in summer 2009.
• Committed to a career in the field or in a related academic field.

How to apply:

• Complete the application form.
• Attach a professional resume.
• Write an essay that offers a cogent argument for your career and educational choices, particularly focused on your career intentions in the steel industry.
• Attach a college transcript and a letter of recommendation from faculty.

**For complete scholarship and submission details visit the website.

Deadline for scholarship submissions is March 2, 2008.

New Annual Scholarship Recognizes Teens as Alzheimer’s Caregivers

$5,000 Cash from the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America

Teens, the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America (AFA) wants to educate you on the growing Alzheimer’s epidemic. Why? The AFA believes that a growing number of teens are being forced into roles as caregivers for a family member suffering from Alzheimer’s.

In response the AFA has launched a new teen website as part of its ongoing mission to provide the support and education necessary for those affected by Alzheimer’s.

In celebration of the website’s launch the AFA is giving away a new annual scholarship. Starting in 2008, the $5,000 AFA Teens for Alzheimer’s Awareness College Scholarship award will be annually awarded to one college-bound applicant.

Who’s eligible?

• You must be a high school senior and enrolling in a four-year college upon graduation.
• You must be a U.S. citizen.

How to Enter:

• Write a personal biography of about 200 words.
• Write a well-crafted personal essay between 1200 and 1500 words that answers these two questions: “How has Alzheimer’s disease changed or impacted your life? What have you learned about yourself, your family and/or your community in the face of coping with Alzheimer’s disease?”
• All essays and biographies must be hard copy, typed or in a Word document format, and double-spaced. Include 4 copies of the essay with a cover letter and title.
• Attach an official school transcript and a copy of your official birth certificate.
• Complete an official AFA Teens scholarship application.

Deadline for submissions:

All scholarship packages must be postmarked by February 15, 2008. The winner will be announced on April 1, 2008.

**For complete details and mailing address visit the scholarship webpage.

Backyard Sports “Be a Good Sport” Essay Contest

Teachers AND Students Win Prizes and Cash

Although this is a contest, not a scholarship, we feel it should still be posted.

Elementary school teachers: inspire your classroom students to craft essays that illustrate an experience they had with good sportsmanship. Up for grabs: prizes and cash from Backyard Sports.

Student essays should be personal stories, completely original, and told in each student’s voice. Students win Backyard Sports tee shirt, hat and Nintendo DS game, a classroom pizza party and more. Teachers—submit the winning student essay and you may win $1,000.

How to Enter:

• Student essayists must be between 8 and 11 years of age to participate.
• Essays must be original, on the topic of sportsmanship, unpublished and without obscenities.
• Essays may not exceed 300 words.
• Follow all details for submissions.

Contest entries must be postmarked no later than January 15, 2008, the contest deadline.

Prizes play out like this:

• 10 students are chosen as essay winners: all 10 receive a classroom pizza party
• 5 of those are Grand Prize winners and 5 are Runners Up: all receive a Backyard Sports “prize package.”
• 10 teachers that send in the winning student essays win cash prizes:
• 5-$1,000 awards go to teachers that enter Grand Prize student essays and 5-$500 awards go to those that enter Runners Up essays.

College Bound Veterans:

The Fund for Veterans’ Education Delivers Real Money

The recently announced Fund for Veterans’ Education has one primary mission: To put more realistic educational scholarships into the hands of recent military veterans. The organization’s coffers are lined with millions of dollars in donations from corporations, private organizations and wealthy individuals—all in agreement that until there is a realistic GI Bill in place veterans have been fighting a losing battle when it comes to college education.

Right now the Fund for Veterans’ Education aims to hand out the most exceptional military scholarships possible for academic years 2008 and 2009. Founders hope that with additional donations the scholarship drive may continue.

The new scholarship was introduced on November 15, 2007 along with an initial 11 recipients. A worthy goal for the remainder of 2008/9 is to make sure a veteran from every state is rewarded with a fistful of scholarship dollars.

Veterans, how can you qualify? You must:

• Be a veteran of Operations Enduring Freedom or Iraqi Freedom–Afghanistan or Iraq.
• Have served and been deployed in a branch of the military for a minimum of 60 days, any time since September 11, 2001.
• Be enrolled in a college program.
• Demonstrate financial need.
• Have exhausted all other forms of federal, state and college financial aid.

Applications will be available April 1, 2008 and must be postmarked no later than July 15, 2008. Don’t miss out on the financial aid you deserve.

AVerMedia Launches a New Scholarship for High School Seniors

Win $5,000 for College

AVerMedia is a document imaging company with a social conscience. The company has just launched a brand new annual scholarship contest: the AVerMedia Technologies Scholarship Program. The first ever winner will be chosen in May 2008.

Qualifications:

• You must currently be a high school senior and planning on graduating in 2008.
• All U.S. high school seniors are invited to participate.
• You must have plans to enroll in four-year degree school to be eligible.
• Must certify enrollment and attendance at your college of choice to receive funds.

How to Apply for the AVerMedia Scholarship:

• Download an application and fill it out completely.
• Attach a resume and an academic transcript.
• Attach two letters of recommendation from teachers.
• Compose a one-page essay that describes your contribution to a sustainable world or a special cause.

The key: Your submission should demonstrate academic motivation and skills, strong extracurricular involvement, commitment to social issues and educational drive.

Applications are only received via U.S. Postal Service and must be postmarked no later than March 28, 2008. One winner will receive a $5,000 scholarship payable over the course of four years.

Even better: the winning student’s two recommending teachers each win state of the art document cameras for their classrooms, courtesy of AVerMedia.

Latina Magazine and Maybelline Will Give Away $50,000 in Scholarships

Opportunities Through Education Scholarships

Latina magazine has recently teamed up with cosmetics giant, Maybelline, inspired to promote college education among Latina women. The Opportunities Through Education Scholarships competition is open to all juniors and seniors in high school regardless of ethnicity or gender.

What’s at stake? Five-$10,000 scholarships.

**How the Opportunities Through Education Scholarships program works:

Eligible high school students must write a 500-word essay that documents a personal experience based on one of these topics: family, overcoming a significant obstacle, definition of a Latina, an idea that helps the Latino community.

A panel of judges will choose 10 semi-finalists in January 2008. Then in February a final 5 finalists will be chosen for the $10,000 scholarships.

**Eligibility Rules and How to Enter:

• Students must be either a junior or senior in high school with a minimum GPA of 3.0.
• Applicants under 18 must have parental permission to participate.
• Essays may not exceed 500 words and must be typed and double-spaced. All work must be original and unpublished.
• A high school transcript is required with the submission.
• Contest participants must print off an official entry form to submit with their essay and all submissions must be mailed to the address on the Latina site.
• Scholarship entries “must be postmarked by December 15, 2007.” Only submissions via United States Postal Service will be accepted; no UPS, FedEx or other carriers are valid.

Final winners of the 5-$10,000 Latina-Maybelline scholarships will be announced in February 2008. Winners will be flown to New York City for a special awards ceremony.