On Thursday, November 20th, 2014, in the Lake City Commons there was a scholarship recognition night for students who have applied to go to Lewis and Clark State College (LCSC) with an outstanding G.P.A. and SAT/ACT score. Whether these students will go to LCSC is up to them, but the President of LCSC and many other staff members at Lewis and Clark State College strongly feel like the night is a way to show students what their school has to offer. The President of LCSC; Dr. J. Anthony Fernandez, Vice President for Student Affairs; Andrew T. Hanson, Ph.D., New Student Recruitment Director; Soo Lee Bruce-Smith, M.S., Enrollment Specialist; Justene Garner, and our own counseling staff consisting of Ms. Sue Hennessey, and Christine Ballard, put this event together at Lake City High School for Seniors, who were invited to attend. At the recognition night there were a couple different schools from around the area such as: Lake City High School, Coeur d’Alene High School, and Lakeland High School.

This event was held near the entrance of the auditorium, on a couple of tables in the Lake City Commons. The tables had blue and black colored cloths on them with mums in the middle and notecards for the students to write down their information. There was also a table set up close to the wall with flavored water, hot apple cider, and three types of cake for everyone invited to enjoy. They set up a monitor and a screen so they could show everyone the two different scholarships that they were handing out and other information for people to know about. The first scholarship that they were handing out was the “Silver Club” scholarship which is for students who have a 3.0-3.49 CPA or 20 ACT/950 SAT. In this package, students will receive $1000 a year for up to four years and with each year the scholarship may increase by $500 and you will get a 500 dollar bonus for students who stay for their senior year at LCSC. To keep this scholarship while students are enrolled at LCSC students must maintain a 3.0 GPA and register for 12 credits each semester. The second scholarship that they were handing out was the “Gold Club” scholarship. This package is for students who have a 3.5-4.0 GPA or 28 ACT/1260 SAT, and in it students will receive $1500 a year that may increase by $500 a year. This one comes with a book scholarship your freshman year of $1000 and the senior scholarship of $500 as well. For students to keep this scholarship while attending LCSC they will have to maintain a 3.0 GPA and register for 12 credits each semester as well as have a minimum of a 3.5 cumulative GPA on their 7th semester and final transcripts. Anyone applying to LCSC can apply for these scholarships as well as many more that they have.

The big shocker of the night was when they collected cards that we had written our name, address, phone number, and grade level on and drew a winner for an $1000 scholarship, for their first year at LCSC. The lucky person whose name was called was mine, Ashley Smith. “I was so excited, that I think I forgot how to walk and talk for a moment.” After Ashley had won, the table in the front wanted the President and Vice President of LCSC to pull another name. The second person who has drawn was another student here at Lake City High School, Alisa Kosenko, who recently moved to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho from Odessa, Ukraine during her junior year. Surprisely, she was one of the people sitting in the front table. I asked Alisa how she felt about winning the scholarship and if she plans on attending LCSC in the Fall of 2016 and she said that she has already done a lot of research on the college and that this opportunity to have a scholarship makes her even excited to attend LCSC. “I am really happy to make this fast progress of funding my education,” Alisa also says. She told me that she thought it was really unexpected that she got the extra $1000 boost for her first year. Personally, I am excited to be going to LCSC with other students that are as excited about school and getting an education that I am.  This was a great night for students to come and learn about what Lewis and Clark State College has to offer and win a couple scholarships while they were at it. “Personally, I am glad to be recognized for my hardwork and to have one the “Silver Club” package and an extra 1,000 dollar scholarship for my first year at LCSC. I thank President Fernandez, Vice President Hanson, Director Bruce-Smith, and the lovely lady which I talked on the phone with; Justene Garner, for allowing me the honor of being invited to this short, but amazing night.”