Three new scholarships through the East Tennessee Foundation will soon be available for local students to apply for to help cover the cost of their education.
“These three are new,” said Beth Heller, Director of Scholarship Programs for the East Tennessee Foundation. “All of our other scholarships are still available as well.”
The East Tennessee Foundation administers a number of scholarship programs throughout the Foundation’s 25-county coverage region. ETF scholarship program requirements range from financial need to scholastic achievement. Several scholarships are targeted toward specific schools or counties, particular fields of study, students involved in certain extracurricular activities, or those who may not display the highest scholastic rankings yet still possess great potential and motivation.
This week, the Heller and the ETF announced three new scholarships that will be available for the 2017-18 school year —The Valkryi-Thor Scholarship in Theatre Arts, the Colonel Kurt Davis Veteran’s Scholarship, and the Butterfly Fund Memorial Scholarship.
• The Valkyri-Thor Scholarship in Theatre Arts was established to benefit graduating high school seniors and college students from ETF’s 25-county region studying theatre arts at Pellissipi State Community College, Roane State Community College, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, or Maryville College.
The scholarship is open to students studying acting, costume design, lighting design, scenic design, directing, stage craft, theatre history, dramatic literature, or theatre studies for teacher licensure. Recipients must enroll full-time and demonstrate financial need.
• The Colonel Kurt Davis Veteran’s Scholarship was established to assist veterans from East Tennessee Foundation’s (ETF) 25-county service area and Bradley County, in pursuing a degree from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK).
The scholarship is open to veterans who have been honorably discharged from the U.S. Military and intend to enroll full-time in a degree-seeking program at UTK. Preference will be given to applicants who display some financial need.
• The Butterfly Fund Memorial Scholarship was established by the Butterfly Fund at East Tennessee Foundation to assist students pursuing a career in any of a broad variety of fields within pediatric oncology. The Butterfly Fund was established at East Tennessee Foundation by the Barger and Harrill families in memory of their daughters, Emily Barger and Maddie Harrill, who passed away just weeks apart from Rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare form of childhood cancer. Graduating high school students, current college students, and adult students may apply.
Applicants must intend to pursue careers serving pediatric oncology patients and their families, including, but not limited to: physicians, nurses, social workers, researchers, physical therapists, occupational therapists, etc. The scholarship is available to both full-time and part-time students, and while demonstrated financial need is not required, it may be considered in the selection process.
In addition to these three new scholarships, the ETF offers several other scholarships that local students are eligible to apply for.
Residents of Carter County are eligible to apply for the following scholarships through the ETF: Howard H. Baker Medical Scholarship; Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame Jeff Byrd Memorial Scholarship; Cherish the Child Scholarship; Gail Clay Scholarship; John H. and Carol R. Evans Choral Music Scholarship; James K. Goldston INFOSEC Scholarship; Candace Mast Veterinary Scholarship; Debbie Van Cleave Scholarship; and the E.E. Perry Memorial Scholarship.
Heller noted the E.E. Perry Memorial Scholarship should be of particular interest to students in Carter County.
“That one is strictly for Carter County,” she said. “All of the other ones are available in other counties.”
The E.E. Perry Memorial Scholarship was established in 2014 to provide scholarship assistance to exceptional students from Carter County who intend to pursue math, science, engineering, or medical fields of study. The scholarship allocation is $10,000 per year for a term of four years. To be eligible, applicants must reside in Carter County; be graduating high school seniors from a Carter County public high school, Elizabethton High School, homeschooled, and/or GED recipients; have a minimum 3.0 Grade Point Average; major in math, science, engineering, or medicine; be enrolled full-time at an accredited not for profit, public, or private college or university in Tennessee; must be a U.S. citizen; and must demonstrate financial need.
Applications for all of the East Tennessee Foundation administered scholarships will be available online at www.easttennesseefoundation.org beginning on Nov. 1.
“Everything that is online now is up to date but the applications are not on there yet,” Heller said. “Nov. 1 is when they go live.”
In the meantime, Heller said, potential applicants can visit the ETF website to see what scholarships they may qualify.
The application to turn in paperwork for all of the ETF scholarships available to Carter County students is Feb. 15, 2017.
“We encourage everyone to apply early rather than waiting until right before the deadline,” Heller said. “It’s hard to get a letter of recommendation at the last minute.”
In fall 2016, more than $275,000 was disbursed in scholarship awards for 178 students participating in ETF scholarship programs.
For more information, please contact Beth Heller, ETF Director of Scholarship Programs, at (865) 524-1223, toll free at (877) 524-1223 or by e-mail at bheller@etf.org. For additional information about the scholarships available through ETF, please visit www.easttennesseefoundation.org.