FALLS VILLAGE — Just one day before the Housatonic Valley Regional High School (HVRHS) class of 2023 took to the stage to receive their diplomas, a total of approximately $420,000 was given out in scholarship money.
However, many scholarships were not awarded due to a lack of applicants. In fact, around half of the funds that were given out were just two scholarships, the Margaret Derwin Scholarship and the Visual Arts Scholarship.
Principal Ian Strever took note that there were no new applicants for the Fulton Fund Scholarship, which is offered to students living in Salisbury.
“I know of many applicants, in Salisbury specifically who could have used this money,” Strever said.
Students have cited many reasons for not applying for these scholarships. Some claimed that it is too time consuming on top of school work and outside of school activities. Others were convinced that they didn’t compare well to other applicants.
The scholarships available for HVRHS students are posted on Xello, a college preparation program, and on a shared Google Drive.
Leila Kline from Salisbury explained how she missed the deadline for several of the applications she had hoped to apply to.
“There were just so many,” she said. “And unless you check the site every day, you really don’t know.”
Like Kline, Zoey Greenbaum of Kent added that she too wished she had applied for more scholarships. “But there was so much stress” she claimed.
“With the end of the school year coming with homework and sports I didn’t have the time to do as many as I wanted to,” Greenbaum said.
