Jean M. R. Smith Foundation to increase scholarships

HURON COUNTY - The Jean M.R. Smith Foundation will award 15 new $20,000 scholarships in 2012 to Huron County seniors graduating this school year. The Foundation’s Board decided to increase the number of scholarships this year commensurate with the growth of the Foundation’s assets. The scholarships total $20,000 each and are paid over four years provided the student maintains good grades and character.

“The Foundation’s Board of Directors believes that $5,000 annual scholarships will influence students and their families to pursue college educations,” said Foundation President Bob Sajdak.

Foundation Executive Director Rosemary Esch said, “Jean Smith wanted students who might not have the highest grade point or highest ACT test scores to get a chance to attend college.”

Smith was a long time Huron County resident who believed in supporting undergraduate college education. Jean Smith always led by doing the extraordinary. She started her Foundation in 1996 to see how it would work while she was alive. Smith looked forward each year to reviewing the scholarship applications and enjoyed the notes and letters from students sharing their life journeys.

To qualify for a Jean Smith scholarship, a student must be a resident of Huron County and must graduate from a Huron County High School. Information about the scholarships is available from high school counselors at each of the Huron County high schools. Huron County libraries also have the Jean M.R. Smith Foundation scholarship information.

Mimi Herrington and John Schwedler are the Huron County residents on the Foundation Board. John Schwedler will head up this year’s scholarship committee, which is made up entirely of Huron County residents, selected each year by the Foundation Board. The volunteers follow an established selection process. The scholarship committee reviews the applications and recommends to the Foundation Board the students selected to receive scholarships.

“A lot of people think that you need to graduate at the head of the class to get a scholarship, but that’s not true in all cases,” said Foundation Vice President John Schwedler.

With the Jean M. R. Smith Foundation, the selection criterion addresses students who would benefit the most from a scholarship. Scholarships are awarded on a nondiscriminatory basis with financial need being one of several criteria.

Each year, the Foundation announces the scholarship recipients at the high school award ceremonies. Foundation Board members attend the events and announce in person the students who will be receiving the scholarships. When a student receives a scholarship for $20,000, there is real excitement; the student and family members realize that a college education really can happen.

Esch organizes a celebratory dinner for all the scholarship recipients, and parents, counselors and committee members are invited to attend. At the dinner, students learn about the remarkable Jean Smith and how to access their scholarship funds.

The deadline for submitting applications this year is Sunday, April 1.

For more information: Robert A. Sajdak, President, 5524 Avington Parkway, Clarkston, MI 48348, 313-319-7576, rassajdak@gmail.com, or Rosemary Esch, Executive Director, Jean M. R. Smith Foundation, P.O. Box 42, Bad Axe, MI 48413, 989-860-8169.