Local college scholarship applications open through April 10

From now until April 10, local high school seniors and other prospective college students will be able to apply for over 70 local scholarships.

The scholarships from local organizations are wide-ranging. Some are specifically for high school students, while others are open to any Bonner County residents as well as homeschool students.

“There’s a scholarship for everyone,” said Sandpoint High School post-secondary transition counselor Jeralyn Mire.

Some scholarships are need-based, while others weigh academic standing or are specific to students pursuing music majors, overcame personal hardship, politically active, or looking into careers in wildlife and natural resources as well as many others.

The scholarships are run through the high school, and all use the same common scholarship application. Some require additional cover letters, or essays, Mire said, but the common application significantly simplifies things for students.

Last year, students received over $165,340 in local scholarships, SHS counselor Kendall Lang said.

“In the heat of COVID, that was pretty awesome,” Mire said. “[The community is] still really supporting our students.”

On Tuesday afternoon, a small group of SHS seniors gathered in the school library to fill out applications with the help of their counselors.

Senior Alexa Zavala said she plans to study psychology at Colorado State University.

“I just went through some stuff like this past couple of years,” she said. “It made me realize that I really want to help kids and teens that struggled through stuff like I did.”

Senior Taylor Beauchene plans to attend either Boise State or the University of Idaho, he said. He plans to pursue physical therapy, an idea he got because of playing soccer.

“I like helping people,” he said. “I did sports and stuff, and I've seen people get hurt. It just feels like it wouldn't be a bad thing to just help people like that.”

Olivia Lynch, another senior working on her application Tuesday, said because her parents are teachers they had a limited amount of funds they could provide for college.

She plans to attend Montana State after receiving a significant scholarship from them, she said, but is still trying to get more covered.

“I'm here to do some general scholarships and cover as much of tuition as I can so I don't have student loans and so my parents don’t have to take out of their retirement,” Lynch said.

Lynch, who plans to study biology, is fascinated by life sciences and loves living close to nature and mountains.

“I took an AP course last year, and it was super amazing to me just how the body works and how life just works in general,” she said. “And also, I'm pretty interested in conservation … Just life sciences, I think is the path that I definitely want to go down. I've always loved science.”

Senior Christopher Koch said he plans to pursue something in STEM. He’s always enjoyed math and science and plans to join the Air Force after college.

Koch is still deciding on which college he’ll attend, and what he wants to eventually do as a career. There are too many possibilities for him to be sure just yet, he said

“There's so much floating around. Like, I want to do the Peace Corps. I want to work for a space agency,” he said. “It's [many] different things.”

He came in Tuesday because he had started the scholarships but realized he needed some help.

“I just kind of had this weird feeling I was doing it wrong. Turns out I totally was. So I came in here, but now I know exactly how to do it,” he said.

Lang said the most common question she gets from students filling out applications is “where do I start?”

Once they get the basics down, the rest isn’t too complicated, she said. Another big part of her job when it comes to the scholarships is helping students to edit essays and personal statements, and reminding them of different experiences they can list in their applications.

“We get a lot of, ‘oh, I didn’t know that counted,’” Lang said.

Often, students don’t realize just how much they do until someone points it out to them, Mire said. The counselors encourage students to brag a little bit.

A new addition this year to the dozens of other local scholarships, the “Sandpoint Tomorrow” scholarship is for students at SHS of the Lake Pend Oreille High School that have a 3.5 GPA or higher.

The scholarship is open to students pursuing accredited trade and technical schools, not just four-year universities, said Jessica Lippi, co-director of Sandpoint Tomorrow.

The scholarship, founded by Sandpoint resident Dennis Pence, prioritizes students who want to make a positive impact in the world, Lippi said.

The scholarship, which ranges between $2,000 to $5,000, is based heavily on two short essay questions: “What is the most important thing you have learned so far in your life?” and “If it was in your power to change one thing about our society, what would it be? How would you go

about making that change?”

“[It’s for] students who have a desire to see change in the world,” she said. “Students who have advocacy in their hearts and minds.”

Another factor the scholarship considers, she said, is helping out students whose families make enough money that they don’t qualify for other aid such as the Pell Grant, but don’t make enough to pay for college out-of-pocket.

“It’s letting students know there are people behind them that believe in them,” Lippi said.