Scholarship

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Timeline:

• Feb 22, 2012 Deadline for submission of applications
• Feb 25, 2012 Interviews. Applicants will be notified

History

Since its founding in 1981, the Irish American Society of County Will has placed high value on keeping our Irish traditions alive. A few years later, when Fr Kevin O'Neill Shanley, O.Carm. proposed that we send a worthy high school student to study in Ireland, the board readily agreed.

The Society has, since that time, selected at least one high school student from the county to represent us at this six week, well supervised, exploration of Irish Heritage.  To date, we have sent 29 teens on the Irish Way.

To view a list of previous scholarship winners, visit our Archives.

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Who May Apply

The Irish Way is open to any High School student who wants to go. It costs approximately $3000.00 for the 4 week "Course" in Irish history, music, ... The Irish American Society contributes at least $ 1000.00 annually in the name of at least one student to the Irish Life Experience.

In December, letters are sent to guidance counselors at every High School in the County. Prospective Candidates must supply the following by the December 15 deadline:

• A 300 word essay entitled "Why I want to Study in Ireland"
• A letter of recommendation from an official at the student's High School.
• A letter of recommendation from a non-family adult.

After receiving all applications, the Chairman of the Scholarship Committee schedules interviews with all qualified candidates. On Saturday morning in late January, the Scholarship Committee meets and interviews all qualified candidates. After deliberation, the winner is selected, and alternates are selected.

Some of the criterion used by the committee is as follows:

• Maturity
• Ability and willingness to come up with the balance of the tuition cost
• Other accomplishments already achieved by the student.
• Strength of character for the student is a representative of the Society to the Irish Way program.

The scholarship is open to all students who attend High School in Will County. It is also open to any student who resides in Will county, but goes to High School elsewhere.

The Irish Way program has been in existence for 30 years, and the Irish American Society of County Will has been the largest single supporter of the program over the years. More details are available at the Irish American Cultural Institute Irish Way Website.

In 2009, we had a bit of difficulty with the scholarship, and did not award one, unfortunately.  In 2010, we changed our support to the Irish Life Experience, with very favorable results.

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Endowment

The society usually gets between 5 and 15 applicants in any given year. The Scholarship Committee can select one or several students to participate. However, at best, this is only a partial scholarship to the program, and the student is expected to raise the balance of the costs on his or her own.

The Society, as a 501(c)3 not for profit organization actively solicits contributions to their scholarship fund from corporations or individuals who believe in the program. As a member of the scholarship committee, one of the hardest things you can do is turn down many of these youths, the leaders of tomorrow.

The Scholarship committee would, indeed, like to send almost all of the qualified candidates to the program in Ireland, but the funds just are not there to do so. All monies directly solicited from corporations or individuals for this purpose are put directly into the scholarship fund.

For more information on donating to the Irish American Society of County Will's Scholarship fund, eMail us.

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