This past week, the Melrose High PTO hosted board members from the
Melrose High School Permanent Scholarship Fund (http://www.mhsfund.org/index.html).
The Fund began in 1960 and remains a recognized 501©3 in service to
college-bound MHS students. With the blessing of the PTO, I’m sharing notes
from a PTO member that includes highlights of the Scholarship Fund Board’s
presentation. (Edits and errors mine.)
Ø In 2015, the Board
distributed $260K in scholarships (up from $150k several years ago).
Ø The money for last
year’s distribution came from several sources, the two largest being dividends
from investments and donations.
Ø The Board is hoping to
disperse a similar amount this year. After fundraising efforts are complete,
Treasurer Jeff Pitcher will determine how much money will be allocated to
this year’s program.
Ø The #1 thing our kids
can do to help sustain this program for future years is to write a thank you
note to the people who fund the scholarship they receive, letting them know
where they are going to school, what they hope to study, and their
appreciation. Including a senior picture is a nice touch that is
valued by donors.
Ø There are many
scholarships and some of them, but not all, have stipulations (e.g., must have
attended Horace Mann, must be going to Holyoke College, must be a baseball
player, must be a Protestant girl).
Ø Each student is
provided with a generic application packet to fill out. Students do not apply
for specific scholarships but do provide a lot of information that will be used
to match them with scholarships that have stipulations. Some scholarships
are based on need, some are based on merit, and some have no specific criteria.
Ø MHS teacher Suzanne
Fogarty and eight teachers divide up the applications and interview students.
They then regroup to determine the scholarship awards.
Ø Scholarships are
awarded the week of graduation and are printed in the graduation program.
Ø One student may be listed
as receiving only one scholarship and another may be listed as receiving four
or five, but it’s likely that the one scholarship contains much more money than
the amount in each of the individual scholarships.
Ø The application asks
for annual income of the parents and some parents will not provide this
information, which makes them ineligible for need-based scholarships. Only
Ms. Fogarty and the eight teachers see this financial information and then it
is shredded.
Ø The student receives a
voucher for the scholarship and can turn it in when he/she wants the funds to be
sent to the college. Students have a multi-year window (stated in the award letter) to use this one-time voucher.
Money is always sent directly to the school and never to the student.
Ø Ms. Fogarty told of a
student who was getting a “free ride” to college who received a scholarship,
and then asked to be removed from the program so there was more money for other
students.
Ø Packets are
due Feb 24th. No late packets will be accepted.
Ø For a full list of scholarships,
click here http://www.mhsfund.org/pdfs/mhspsfpermanentfunds.pdf.
