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Many college scholarships focus on high school seniors, but there are scholarship opportunities for younger students as well. This week's Scholarship of the Week is one such opportunity, the Prudential Spirit of Community Awards program. These scholarships are awarded to students in grades 5-12 who have served their communities in a significant way in the last 12 months.
The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards were created in 1995 through a partnership between Prudential Financial and the National Association of Secondary School Principals. These community service scholarships give young people who show an early commitment to helping others a chance at national recognition, as well as up to $6,000 to pay for school and an additional $5,000 to benefit the charity organization of their choice.
Prize: Five high school and five middle school National Honorees will receive $5,000 scholarship awards and an additional $5,000 donation to a charity of their choice; 102 State Honorees will receive $1,000 awards and will go on to compete in the national contest and participate in an awards ceremony in Washington, D.C.
Eligibility: Students in grades 5-12 who are legal residents of any U.S. State or the District of Columbia who have engaged in a volunteer activity in the last 12 months. Applications must be certified by a school principal or the local head of one of several officially designated certifying organizations listed on the contest website.
Deadline: Applications must be submitted for certification by November 2, 2009 and must be sent by the school or organization by November 9, 2009.
Required Material: A completed scholarship application which describes your role in the community service activity you completed, as well as its impact on you and the community. Applications and a list of the questions applicants are required to answer are available on the Prudential Spirit of Community Awards website.
Further details about the application process can be found by conducting a free college scholarship search on Scholarships.com. Once the search is completed, students eligible for this scholarship award will find it in their search results.