Scholarship Blogosphere

In 1990, the Charlie Mack Celebrity Basketball Game started as a simple charitable benefit event; since then, it's grown and evolved into the weekend-long Party 4 Peace, benefiting and bringing together organizations that work in a variety of ways to help young people live without fear and violence.

One of the most proven methods of doing just that is by encouraging educational achievement, and Scholarship America is pleased to be participating in this year's Party 4 Peace to do so. While she won't be playing ball in the celebrity game alongside NBAers Rudy Gay, Jameer Nelson and Elton Brand, Scholarship America's own Marian Marchese will be appearing at the Love for the Kids luncheon and panel discussion on Saturday, July 12 in Philadelphia. The luncheon will feature speakers from a number of organizations as well as kids from 12-16, and focus on peace and what to do to achieve it.

For more about the weekend itself, visit CharlieMackCelebrityWeekend.com; if you're in the Philadelphia area and are looking for tickets to the basketball game itself, they're available at the Temple University/Liacouras Center Web site.

For most students, summer vacation -- and the 4th of July long weekend -- is dedicated to friends, family, food and fun. But it can also be a great opportunity to volunteer, as more than 1,200 college students are finding out via Hope Worldwide's Rebuild the City weekend coming up in New Orleans.

On July 4, students from more than 150 colleges and universities will be cleaning up more than 100 empty lots in the Lower Ninth Ward of the city, one of the areas hardest hit by Hurricane Katrina; the day will end with a special ceremony in the ward's Buck Park, welcoming back thousands of displaced residents to a neighborhood that's ready for real rebuilding.

Scholarship America, through our Dollars for Scholars chapters and disaster relief programs, was able to help hundreds of Katrina's displaced continue their college educations, and we're delighted that so many students -- not just from the area, but from across the country -- are willing to donate their time over a long summer weekend to continue to give back.

For more information on the program, visit Hope Worldwide's site at HOPEww.org.

Fall River, Massachusetts, is the original home of Scholarship America and Dollars for Scholars; fifty years ago, local optometrist Irving Fradkin started what would become the nation's largest non-profit, private-sector scholarship organization. Last week, the city celebrated, with a luncheon featuring speeches from Dr. Fradkin, Scholarship America board chair Mim Schreck, Fall River mayor Robert Correia and Margot Tyler of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

As Dr. Fradkin pointed out: "Democracy rests on three things. Education, education, education. Once upon a time all you needed was a strong back, but now, we need to compete globally."

You can find more wise words from our founder, and high praise from fellow participants, by reading the full story in the Fall River Spirit.

As Anne Applebaum points out in Slate, high school students are stressed like never before. Between high college costs, increasingly competitive admissions and the balance of work, school and social life, juniors and seniors have more on their minds than even their older siblings or cousins from less than a generation ago.

If you're a student or a parent stressing out about upcoming educational milestones, check out Scholarship America's Application Tips and other Student Resources, which can help you find scholarships, find advice and make sure those applications stand out. The application process is hard, and we're here to help.

We'd also love to know your tips and tricks for beating stress -- if you're applying to college, applying for scholarships or helping students yourself, leave us a comment and let us know how you keep things in perspective!

Ralph "Cy" Seifert has been around Scholarship America since our earliest days as a coalition of community scholarship foundations in New England. Our founder, Irving Fradkin, awarded Cy a Dollars for Scholars scholarship in 1961, which helped him attend Brown University; since then, Cy has been a tireless organizer of chapters, and has served as president of Scholarship America, chair of our board, and, currently, as an Honor Roll Trustee.

Cy addressed the recent meeting of our Board of Trustees, and his speech is now available, in its entirety, on Scholarship America's YouTube Channel. Head on over and check it out, for a highly amusing and insightful look at Scholarship America's history.

ThanksUSA began in 2005 as an idea by two Virginia schoolgirls, Rachel and Kelsi Okun, who wanted a way to thank active-duty troops throughout the U.S. Armed Forces. The girls, with help from their parents and a small group of adults, developed the idea to raise funds for need-based scholarships for the children and spouses of active-duty military personnel. ThanksUSA was created as a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization to raise and award scholarships to these families. Scholarship America is proud to manage the application and awards process for ThanksUSA, which has to date awarded more than 1,350 scholarships for nearly $4 million.

The centerpiece of ThanksUSA is an annual "American History Treasure Hunt," which raises funds for scholarships as well as awareness of the organization, and offers prizes ranging from gift certificates to laptops. The third annual Treasure Hunt is going on now through August 15, so there's still time to play, or gear up for next year's hunt.

In addition, ThanksUSA is hosting a Pro-Am Tennis Tournament later this month, and is looking for players who'd like to have a great time helping a great cause. The tournament will take place on June 16 in Arlington, Virginia; for more information, contact Michele Stork at ThanksUSA. Once again, Scholarship America is proud to play a part in helping ThanksUSA thank those who serve, and to help them provide the gift of education.

Dr. Clifford Stanley, president of Scholarship America, took the opportunity last week to be a part of a terrific event in our own offices' backyard -- the first annual Celebration Of Education event in St. Paul, MN, held by a group of private scholarship providers to celebrate more than 100 students who received scholarships to further their education.

As the St. Paul Pioneer Press put it:

"And may a warm sun and a few bright lights grace today's to-do in Rice Park, where five private organizations have called a party to encourage the 100-plus graduating seniors whom they've awarded college scholarships. There'll be food, music, short speeches by dignitaries such as Mayor Chris Coleman, school Superintendent Meria Carstarphen and Scholarship America CEO Clifford Stanley — and some remarkable young people who are the guests of honor. ...

"'We feel we're just doing what we should be doing,' says John Tillotson, a vice president with the financial firm Smith Barney. Tillotson has been involved for a dozen years with the scholarship program of the Optimist Club of St. Paul [which awards scholarships through Scholarship America's Dollars for Scholars program]. From his office overlooking Rice Park, Tillotson has been working for months on today's event, thinking, 'Let's celebrate what these kids have done. Let's celebrate what our local schools have produced, and let's celebrate the community gathering its resources to send these kids on to higher education.'"

You can read the full Pioneer Press article here; our congratulations to the students, and our thanks to everyone who helped them take another step toward their educational dreams.

The Fergus Falls (MN) Daily Journal has long been one of many newspapers in the country that actively and frequently publicizes the work of their local Dollars for Scholars chapter, including a series of columns from college freshmen who've won scholarships from Fergus Falls Dollars for Scholars. And, now, the paper is presenting some live-action media, too, on their Videos Page. Click there and scroll down to May 1 to see an interview with chapter president Dave Schneeberger about his work with Dollars for Scholars and the impact the program has on this small central Minnesota town. You can also get to the video directly by clicking here; be forewarned that it'll auto-play, so adjust those speakers before you click.

Scholarship America's President Cliff Stanley visited the Downtown Magnets High School Dollars for Scholars Chapter in Los Angeles while on a trip to California last week. As College Counselor at the high school, Lynda McGee has created an inviting and welcoming area for her college center. Her efforts at the school have been rewarded with a 98 percent college-going rate for a high school population that is primarily Hispanic and low income. The students are pictured in the front row, and in the back row from left to right is President Stanley; Ann Worley, Executive Director CA Dollars for Scholars; and Lynda McGee.

Scholarship America's Northwest Dollars for Scholars region held its Light the Fire for Education event yesterday; as the Seattle Post-Intelligencer mentions, University of Washington president Mark Emmert was honored with the 2008 Community Hero Award, thanks to his work in developing the Husky Promise scholarship program (which provides free tuition to UW for low-income students.)

We'd like to congratulate President Emmert, and Northwest Dollars for Scholars; stay tuned for a full recap of the Light the Fire event.