The Frank and Betty Gooden Estes Scholarship Plan 

Purpose

The purpose of the Scholarship Plan is to encourage and assist worthy young men and women to prepare themselves through vocational, undergraduate, or graduate education for positions of community leadership and service.

Scholarship Awards

A maximum of four new scholarships may be awarded each year under the Frank and Betty Gooden Estes Scholarship Plan.  The maximum amount of a scholarship award shall be $1,000.00 per quarter or $1,500.00 per semester of vocational, undergraduate, or graduate attendance for 12 quarters or 8 semesters, or a total maximum value per scholarship award of $12,000.00. 

Students receiving scholarship awards may attend any vocational school, undergraduate, or graduate college or university of their choice approved by the Frank and Betty Gooden Estes Scholarship Plan Committee. They will be expected to pursue a full course of study each quarter or semester during the period of the award.  Reports of academic progress must be submitted to the Scholarship Plan Committee at the end of each quarter or semester.

The amount of any scholarship award shall not exceed the actual expenses of tuition, room, board, books and lab fees of the student as approved by the Frank and Betty Gooden Estes Scholarship Plan Committee. A recipient of an Estes Scholarship award will not be permitted, without specific approval of the Frank and Betty Estes Scholarship Plan Committee, to accept any other scholarship funds or loans except from parents or legal guardian. Such approval is routinely given, unless the total scholarships received would exceed the actual allowed school expenses.

Additional scholarship awards to substitute for vacancies in scholarships previously awarded may be made at the discretion of the Frank and Betty Gooden Estes Scholarship Plan Committee.

Eligibility Requirements

As required by the funding foundation, the student is neither an immediate family member of a Frank and Betty Gooden Estes Scholarship Committee member, nor of a teacher or school administrator in any school or system, nor of a member of the Meriwether County Board of Education.  Applicants for scholarship awards shall have been legal residents of Meriwether County for at least three continuous years immediately prior to receiving the scholarship.  Applicants for scholarship awards must be graduates of (or scheduled for graduation within six months) a public or private high school located in Meriwether County.  Applicants shall have written an essay, not longer than two pages, stating why the student should be selected for this scholarship.  Each applicant shall demonstrate financial need and high moral and ethical character.  Each applicant shall have earned grades that indicate an ability and desire for further learning, reflecting a minimum of a “C” average throughout high school, and reflecting improvement in grades earned over the four years of high school.

Eligibility Preferences

Applicants for scholarship awards are preferred to have participated in community work, either through church, school, a club, or other organizations.  Students who have been recommended by his or her school counselor and a leader of another organization, such as the Boys and Girls Club, the Boy or Girl Scouts, Young Life, a church, or other nonprofit organization shall have eligibility priority. 

Recipients of Gooden Estes Scholarship awards, while enrolled in a postsecondary education program, may reapply for continuing scholarships for a maximum of four years.  Each recipient will be required to submit an annual report to the Community Foundation reflecting the recipient’s current financial need and a record of the recipient’s scholarship and community achievements during the most recent twelve-month period.  Recipients who reapply for a scholarship should be given priority consideration over new applicants provided they maintain their scholastic and community achievements and continue to have a financial need.

Withdrawal of Awards

A scholarship award may be withdrawn if the original eligibility status of the student changes during the period of the award, except that the award may be continued through the school year during which such change in status occurs.  A scholarship award will be withdrawn if a satisfactory cumulative scholastic standing is not maintained, except that the award may be continued through the freshman year. A scholarship award will be withdrawn if the personal conduct of the student, in the opinion of the Frank and Betty Gooden Estes Scholarship Committee, becomes unsatisfactory.

Application

Application forms and information may be obtained from the school guidance counselors or by contacting the Frank and Betty Gooden Estes Scholarship Plan Committee, Meriwether County Schools, P.O. Box 70, Greenville, Georgia 30222.  All applications must be returned to the Frank and Betty Gooden Estes Scholarship Plan Committee not later than the closing date shown on the application form. The official transcript of an applicant’s high school record and other information requested on the application form must accompany the application.  Letters of reference must accompany the application.

Selection of Scholarship Award Students

Responsibility for the selection of the applicants to receive scholarship awards will be vested in the Frank and Betty Gooden Estes Scholarship Plan Committee. The Committee will give consideration to the following factors when selecting a student for a scholarship award.

     Scholastic record

     Financial need

     Planned course of study

     Character

     Qualities of leadership

     Participation in school and community activities

     Cooperation with school authorities

     Letters of recommendation submitted with the scholarship application

     Personal interview by Scholarship Plan Committee or by designated representatives

     Other information obtained through investigation by the Committee

Administration

The Frank and Betty Gooden Estes Scholarship Plan is sponsored by the Community Foundation of Tampa, Florida.  The Plan is administered by the Frank and Betty Gooden Estes Scholarship Plan Committee of Meriwether County as appointed by the Community Foundation.  The decision of the Scholarship Plan Committee, once approved by the Community Foundation, will be final in the administration of the Scholarship Plan.  Students receiving scholarship awards will be required to send to the Scholarship Plan Committee a transcript of their grades from the vocational, undergraduate, or graduate institution after each quarter or semester. Until quarterly or semester transcripts are received from the college, no further payment will be made.  The right is reserved by the Community Foundation to modify or discontinue this Frank and Betty Gooden Estes Scholarship Plan at any time except that scholarships previously awarded will be fulfilled.

Applications and correspondence should be addressed to:

The Frank and Betty Gooden Estes Scholarship Plan Committee, Meriwether County Schools, P.O. Box 70, Greenville, Georgia 30222. Applications must be received no later than 4:00 pm April 19, 2013.