Local Scholarship Night will be taking place on Tuesday, May 10. According to a recent S’more update, students will receive an invitation to the event by May 9 if they have been awarded a scholarship. They can then pick up in the counseling office. The event will take place in the auditorium with parents and students welcome.

“Seniors will be asked to sit in the far section of the auditorium with families sitting in the first two sections,” Counselor Elizabeth Elsesser said. “Each scholarship will be introduced and the recipient will be announced and asked to come up on stage. Many times the person announcing the scholarship is a member of the family that the scholarship is named after or a member of the organization that is sponsoring the scholarship. The chosen recipient will come on stage, shake hands with the announcer, and receive a certificate and letter that explains the details of the scholarship and what needs to be done in order to receive the scholarship funds.”

More than $130,000 will be given away through 70 plus local scholarships. 

“Our philosophy is that we do try to spread the scholarships around so that many students are awarded scholarships; however, it is ultimately up to each scholarship committee to decide,” Elsesser said. “So there are times when students receive multiple scholarships. Each scholarship has particular criteria that is considered when selecting the recipient. There are various scholarship committees from the donors to some FHS staff that take part in making the selections.”

The event itself gives students the opportunity to potentially meet the person awarding them the scholarship money as well as be celebrated for all they’ve accomplished.

“I think it is extremely important that we do the local scholarship night the way we do for a few reasons,” Principal Mike Bakker said. “First, students have worked hard through their education careers to this point and that hard work should be celebrated. Secondly,  these groups that are awarding money have done a lot for our community and worked hard to raise the money over the years and they deserve to be highlighted for their generosity and commitment to our students.”

For any questions regarding Local Scholarship Night, contact Elsesser via her Fenton school email.