Connie Kindsvater
March and April! That’s the time when graduating high school seniors in Collier and Lee Counties, and those who are already in college, majoring in one of the overall journalism fields of study, may apply to the Press Club for a Terrence J. Miller $1,000 Journalism Scholarship. Each student is required to fill out Press Club Scholarship application, supply writing samples, tell why he/she wants to major in the overall field of journalism and ask a teacher to give a recommendation for his/her application.
Basic criteria: planning to be (or is) a full-time student at an accredited college/university, planning (or is) a major/minor in the overall field of journalism, and maintaining at least a 3.0 GPA.
Selection process: each of the applicants who meet the criteria will be interviewed by members of the Press Club Scholarship Committee. In the past, they were in-person interviews, usually at a Starbucks in the afternoon. For 2020 and 2021, Zoom interviews are used instead. Interviews are happening next week.
Scholarship awards: depending upon the amount of funds available in the Press Club Scholarship account held at Champions for Learning, the committee usually awards two or three scholarships a year. Provided that the students continue to meet the criteria, their scholarships are renewable for the remainder of their years in college. Thus, one student’s scholarship awards amount could be as much as $4,000, total, if the student meets the criteria for their years as an undergrad.
2021-2022 New applicants: the Scholarship Committee is interviewing three excellent candidates, two female and one male, two from Collier County and one from Lee County. One will be a freshman (FSU or American Univ.), one will be a junior at UCF and one will be a senior at FGCU.
Currently, there are eight continuing students who hold a Press Club Scholarship: Three will be seniors (UCF, UF and FAU), two will be juniors (St. Leo Univ. and FSU), and three will be sophomores (Univ. of Alabama, American Univ. and FSC).
Mentors: Each Press Club scholarship student is given a mentor for the amount of time he/she holds our Press Club Scholarship. The mentor stays in touch with the student, listens when the student asks questions, acts as a positive person in the student’s college life, and tries to help the student get a meaningful internship or two, during or after his/her time in college. Many of the mentors are Scholarship Committee members, but any Press Club member who would like to mentor a student through his/her time in college may offer to be a mentor.
More Funds=More Scholarships! There’s another way to help the scholarship students and program—make a donation, in any amount, to the Press Club Scholarship Fund. The majority of the funds in the account are donations from our very own members! For more information, contact Connie Kindsvater, ckinds@me.com.