The $1,000 Grant Allen Scholarship is available to any student attending a post secondary school who can write an essay about what Rush Lake means to them. Application instructions are posted at area schools and on this website each winter.
The scholarship was initiated in 2006 in memory of Grant Allen Jestus. On May 24, 2003, five year old Grant drowned on West Rush Lake in a tragic boating accident in which he was not wearing a life jacket and fell, unnoticed, out of his father’s boat. The tragedy resulted in the State’s Grant Allen Law requiring children under age 10 to wear a life jacket. Our gratitude to Grant’s mom Kimberly, her daughter Stephanie, and Kim’s parents Allen and Nancy Johnson for continuing to be supportive of the scholarship in many ways, including contributing funds to the initial RLIA donation. In fact, it is important to note that in 2010 Nancy and Allen made an additional donation amounting to five years worth of awards to the scholarship fund to ensure that it would be awarded through the year that Grant would have graduated from high school.
Contributions to the fund are encouraged and greatly appreciated. If you would like to contribute, your tax-deductible donation can either be mailed to the RLIA or be made in person at any membership meeting. 100% of every dollar received goes directly into the scholarship fund account.
Deadline for the 2019 scholarship application is postmarked by March 18, 2019.
The Rush Lake Improvement Association is pleased to announce that the scholarship initiated in 2006 will be awarded again this year.
Eligibility:
• Our 14th annual scholarship opportunity, now $1,000, is open to any graduating high school student who will be attending any post-secondary school in the Fall of 2019.
• Applicants are not required to be members of the Rush Lake Improvement Association.
• Applicants are not required to be Rush Lake residents.
• If Rush Lake holds a special meaning to you, we encourage you to apply.
Application Process:
Write an essay answering the following four questions:
1. What does Rush Lake mean to you?
2. What activities or organizations have you been involved in? Include any employment experience, volunteer work and awards you have received.
3. What institution do you plan to attend in the Fall of 2019?
4. What are you planning to study and why?
Either email your essay as a pdf file by March 18, 2019 to [email protected] or mail your essay postmarked by March 18, 2019 to: Grant Allen Scholarship, Rush Lake Improvement Association, P.O. Box 677, Rush City, MN 55069.
Rules:
• Grades are not a consideration, there is no need to include your transcript.
• Applicant must have completed an application for admission in Fall, 2019, to one or more postsecondary schools, whether to a college, junior college, community college, trade school, etc.
• Complete a separate, simple Personal Data Page, to include your name, home address, phone number and the name of your high school. An email address is requested but not required. This personal data will not be included for judges who read your essay.
• Your application must be either e-mailed, or postmarked, no later than March 18, 2019.
Applications with an e-mail or postmark after March 18, 2019 will not be accepted.
A committee selected by the R.L.I.A. Board will judge the entries. The answer to question #1 carries the most weight in determining the winner. In the event of a tie, at the discretion of the R.L.I.A. judges, two additional $1,000 scholarships, (for a total of up to 3) will be awarded to the selected recipients. The scholarships will be presented to the winner or winners at the R.L.I.A. June 22, 2019 membership meeting at the Nessel Town
Hall, 49205 Acacia Trail, Stanchfield, MN 55080. A $1,000. check will be presented to each recipient during this meeting. The student or students chosen to receive the scholarships will be notified via email before the end of April. If no email address is submitted, the notification letter will be sent to the home address.
