Dear SHS Senior

Dear SHS Senior:

Are you planning to continue your education after high school, be it college, a vocational school or business school? If so, a scholarship could make a difference for you. There are numerous people, businesses and organizations in our community who wish to help students on their way to a meaningful future. The Shelton scholarship program provides them with the opportunity to do just that, with you as a beneficiary.

In order to compete for many of these local scholarships, you will need to submit a scholarship notebook. This scholarship notebook is exactly the same item as your culminating project portfolio. Seniors will make a decision to complete the portfolio early and submit it as the scholarship notebook; or seniors may choose to forgo the scholarship option and turn in the portfolio prior to the project presentation. Your scholarship notebook will represent you and allow the scholarship donors to “get to know you”.

Local donors who select their own recipients will review the scholarship notebooks to determine which students best meet their criteria. Other donors, having stated their criteria, prefer to leave the selection to a committee who will carefully review the notebooks. (THE SHS SCHOLARSHIP COMMITTEE DOES NOT SELECT THE SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS. IT MERELY OVERSEES THE PROGRAM.)

Criteria for scholarships are varied: Attendance at the local elementary school may be the criteria for some scholarships. School clubs or sports are not of primary importance to some donors. Your area of studies may or may not matter. A high grade point average (G.P.A.) may be important to some donors while others consider an overall improvement in a student’s grades more important. Therefore, we encourage ALL seniors who are planning to further their education to do a scholarship notebook.

One last point must be made. There is no guarantee that you will receive a scholarship by doing a scholarship notebook.

Keep in mind that the process of obtaining scholarships is a complex one. The scholarship notebook is only one possible source. Other sources include: (1) the college or vocational training program you wish to attend; (2) national and regional scholarship programs; (3) clubs, civic, and business organizations your parent or a relative belong to; and (4) the military.

Be sure to make additional copies of your recommendation letters, Statement of Purpose, Resume and awards, so that you can use these documents for other scholarship applications that do not use our scholarship notebook system. Remember that over 40 organizations receive the notebook each year. Please do a quality job for yourself and your high school.

The scholarship notebook must be turned in by 3 p.m. on Thursday, February 10, 2011. Good luck to you in this, your senior year, and the years ahead. 2

INFORMATION FOR THE SCHOLARSHIP NOTEBOOK

All seniors are encouraged to complete a Scholarship Notebook.

A white binder will be provided by Shelton High School. Students will, however, provide the plastic sheets that will cover all pages. Before submitting your finished notebook to the counseling center, please be sure to proofread. Please ask your CSI advisor to review the “Statement of Purpose” with you.

REMEMBER TO SUBMIT THE SCHOLARSHIP SELECTION CRITERIA sheet along with your notebook. This form must be accessed online, from the scholarship notebook folder, completed and printed before submitting with the scholarship notebook. From these criteria sheets the notebook committee will choose which notebooks they wish to consider for their scholarship.

SCHOLARSHIP INTERVIEW TIPS

Some scholarship committees will require an interview. When going for an interview, dress as you would if you were working for this organization (usually conservatively). Also, ask to review your notebook contents before you interview. Below are suggestions for preparing for the interview.

ARRIVAL  Be prompt. Arrive 10 minutes early.  Be pleasant in greeting and waiting.  Do not chew gum.

INTERVIEW  Be prepared to answer some broad, general questions such as: “Where do you plan to be in your career in five years?”  Do not volunteer any negative information.  Be attentive, alert, and interested. Be a good listener.  Do not show impatience or displeasure.  Do not monopolize the interview.  Display confidence.  Thank the interviewer(s) for their time.  During the course of the interview, your answers should be concise and to the point, but complete. Don’t ramble.  Smile, relax, be enthusiastic, and look the interviewer in the eye.  Be prepared to answer the interviewer’s questions and to ask them questions as well.

QUESTIONS YOU MAY BE ASKED IN THE INTERVIEW  What are your greatest strengths?  What are your weaknesses?  What are your career objectives?  What jobs have you enjoyed the most? The least? Why?  What hobbies and interests do you have outside your school?  What are your long range academic and career goals?  Why did you choose to attend a four-year college, a two-year college, or a vocational/technical school? 3

LET’S GET REALLY SPECIFIC ABOUT THE NOTEBOOK

Put your notebook together carefully. Ask for help whenever you need it from your teachers or counselor. We are proud of your accomplishments and want you to receive proper recognition for them.

Your notebook must include the following and must be in the following order:

The cover sheet will go into its own page protector. Please put all other pages together back to back in the page protectors as listed, and follow the specific directions below:

Cover Sheet Table of Contents / Resume Statement of Purpose / Letter of recommendation #1 Letter of recommendation #2 / Activity-Honors-Interest Activity-Honors-Interest / Activity-Honors-Interest Activity-Honors-Interest / Activity-Honors-Interest Activity-Honors-Interest / Job Shadow Time Log /Best Work #1 Response to Best Work #1 / Best Work #2 Response to Best Work #2 / Best Work #3 Response to Best Work #3 / Beyond H.S. plan

Cover Sheet: student name, title of culminating project, date (2/10/11), and CSI teacher name at the top of the sheet, each on a separate line, left justified. NO PHOTO.

Table of contents: all contents in order / left justified

Resume: only one page is recommended – keep the layout clean and pleasing.

Statement of purpose: this should be a one-page well written statement of relevant and personal information. Scholarship committee members will read many of these. Your essay should stand out from the rest.

Letters of recommendation: two letters are expected in the scholarship notebook.

Activities / Honors / Interests: you may include up to 3 full pages front/back. That means 6 sides to showcase your self. This is the chance to highlight any accomplishments and give the reader an opportunity to get to know you through pictures, newspaper clippings, awards and certificates. These do not have to be school affiliated; students may include materials from community, church or personal interest areas.

Job Shadow: the entire job shadow packet will be put into one sleeve; do not separate the papers out.

Time Log: include the time log that was signed by the project mentor.

Best Work: showcase your academic achievements and choose work from content areas that you are proud of, and hope to receive scholarship money from. For example, if you hope to receive any type of art scholarships, it is essential that you include work that highlights that talent.

Best Work reflection/response sheets: access these online, from the SHS CSI website, senior’s page. You must type in all answers to the questions, and print the page.

Beyond High School Plan: this is a state requirement. Your plan for what you intend to do the year after high school must be clear, specific, and contain reference to documents that identify your plan. For example, if you are planning on attending the U of W., you will reference when you received an admittance letter from this university. 4

STATEMENT OF UNDERSTANDING

A scholarship notebook submitted to the scholarship committee becomes the property of the Shelton High School Scholarship Committee on the day it is accepted by the committee. A NOTEBOOK FOUND TO CONTAIN OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS WHICH HAVE BEEN ALTERED WILL BE DISQUALIFIED IN THE COMPETITION FOR LOCAL SCHOLARSHIPS. These “official documents” refer to transcripts, letters of recommendation, etc.

I understand the policy stated above and will comply with it. I also understand that my scholarship notebook must be turned in to the Shelton High School Counseling Center by 3 p.m. on Thursday, February 10, 2011.

______SIGNATURE OF STUDENT

______DATE

*************************************************************************

RELEASE OF INFORMATION FOR______Student’s Name

It is to be the understanding of a scholarship recipient that any information included in the scholarship notebook may be released to the various media – The Olympian, The Journal, etc.

______SIGNATURE OF STUDENT DATE

______SIGNATURE OF PARENT DATE

PLEASE RETURN THIS SHEET ALONG WITH YOUR SCHOLARSHIP NOTEBOOK. 5