(Canton, OH) February 13, 2019 – United Way of Greater Stark County’s Young Leaders Society (YLS) is now accepting applications for a college book scholarship. The scholarship recipient is eligible to receive a total of $4,000 ($1,000 per year) to offset the cost of text books for college.
This will be the second year that YLS has given out book scholarships. This initiative is part of the revised education strategic focus that YLS adopted last year. Last year’s application process was limited to schools that YLS partnered with through mentoring efforts or Hoodies for the Holidays: Canton Harbor High School, CHOICES, Early College CAMP/CAST students and Get Connected students. This year, requirements for the applicant include: high school senior attending a Stark County school district, first member of their family to pursue a four-year college degree, accumulated grade point average of 2.75 or better on a 4.00 scale (or equivalent by the demonstration of proficiency on all required state standards), and submit the application and official high school transcript by the deadline of Tuesday, April 30, 2019.
The two scholarship recipients from last year were Jermaine Brack and Meleah Nelson.
Jermaine Brack graduated from Glen Oak High School in 2018 and was a participant in United Way of Greater Stark County’s Get Connected program. He is highly accomplished in speech and debate, using it as an outlet to share his experience in the foster system and to educate others. Jermaine was a first-generation college student and is attending Biola University to major in Political Science. He plans to go onto law school and dreams of becoming a politician.
Meleah Nelson graduated from Timken Early College High School in 2018 was a member of Timken Early College High School’s program CAMP and a participant in Stark County Teen Court. She is attending college to become a psychiatrist who helps adolescents with a shaky start in life.
“Education sets the foundation for the future. As young leaders, our personal and professional success would not have been possible without support from mentors, teachers and advocates who helped up along the way,” said Felicia Fullerton, YLS Steering Committee member. “College is expensive and we at YLS are happy to remove some of the pressure off the student so they can worry less about book cost and concentrate more on learning and adjusting to the new environment.”
Students should submit their application for the college book scholarship online by Tuesday, April 30 at https://www.uwstark.org/get-involved/donor-networks/young-leaders-society/.
About Young Leaders Society
United Way’s Young Leaders Society is a group of passionate young professionals who come together to educate, engage and inspire individuals across Greater Stark County. They harness their time and talents through mentorship, fundraising and volunteerism to activate education initiatives and build a better community. Education sets the foundation for the future, and it is the area where they believe they can make the greatest impact. As young leaders, they believe their personal and professional success would not have been possible without support from mentors, teachers and advocates who helped them along the way. Now they’re paying it forward for the next generation. More information is available at www.uwstark.org/young-leaders-society .
About United Way of Greater Stark County
United Way of Greater Stark County fights for the health, education and financial stability of every person in every community. We win by living United. By forging unlikely partnerships. By finding new solutions to old problems. By mobilizing the best resources. And by inspiring individuals to join the fight against their community’s most daunting social crisis. Our mission is to improve lives by mobilizing the caring power of our communities in Greater Stark County. In order to live better, we must live United. For more information about United Way of Greater Stark County visit www.uwstark.org . Offices are at 401 Market Avenue North, Suite 300, Canton, Ohio 44702. (330) 491-0445.