Three School Districts Earn a Share of $5,000 in Grant Funding for Increasing Student Participation in Scholarship Program
WATERTOWN — Three school districts across Jefferson, Lewis, and St. Lawrence counties were recently named winners of the Community Foundation’s Class of 2026 Scholarship Challenge and earned a share of $5,000 in grant funding.
The school districts — one in each county the Community Foundation serves — each received a $1,000 grant. One of the three $1,000 winners also was awarded the top Scholarship Challenge grant of $2,000.
Jefferson County’s Sackets Harbor School District is the top grant winner with 71.4 percent, or 20, of its 28 seniors submitting scholarship applications. Sackets also won a $1,000 Scholarship Challenge grant during this year’s first round of awards.
“The Sackets Harbor Patriots are a competitive bunch! This year, our seniors set a goal to achieve the highest scholarship completion rate in the region,” District Superintendent Jennifer Gaffney said. “The Class of 2026 chose to pay it forward by supporting a variety of meaningful local causes. Their actions reflect more than just an understanding of the importance of scholarships in their own journeys; they demonstrate our district’s values of gratitude and generosity. Thank you to the Community Foundation for creating opportunities like this that empower students to make a difference!”
The other two winning school districts receiving a $1,000 grant are: Lewis County’s Copenhagen Central School with 54 percent, or 20, of its 37 seniors submitting applications, and St. Lawrence County’s Colton-Pierrepont Central School with 27 percent, or seven, of its 26 seniors submitting applications.
Schools selected for grant awards were chosen at random during two Community Foundation Facebook Live events. Grant funding may be used to support a schoolwide initiative or project chosen by the senior class officers at the winning schools.
The challenge sought to inspire greater participation in the Foundation’s scholarship program from the Class of 2026 and give schools a chance to win grant support for on-campus programs or initiatives.
The Community Foundation’s scholarship program supports graduating seniors pursuing further education — whether at an accredited college, university, technical, or trade school.
“While we make a wide range of investments in the quality of life for residents, scholarships remain our single largest area of impact annually and are an important part of our heritage as an organization,” said Rande S. Richardson, Community Foundation president & CEO. “It is our hope that the widest range of students benefit from the generosity of our donors and that our goal of changing and shaping lives is fully realized.”
The Scholarship Challenge was open to all schools in Jefferson, Lewis, and St. Lawrence counties. To be eligible, schools had to achieve at least 25 percent participation from their senior class in submitting scholarship applications by the Foundation’s March 15 deadline.
Throughout the challenge, the Community Foundation reported progress at the end of each week on its Facebook and Instagram channels.
A near record 24 percent, or 587 of the 2,459 members of the Class of 2026 in Jefferson, Lewis, and St. Lawrence counties applied for Community Foundation scholarship support by this year’s deadline. View the final 2026 Community Foundation Scholarship Challenge Leaderboard here.
In Jefferson County, a record 32 percent, or 363, of the 1,136 seniors in the county’s 13 school districts applied. Lewis County also posted a new record this year with 34 percent, or 96, of the 285 seniors in the county’s five public and one private school districts apply, while St. Lawrence County saw 12 percent, or 122, of the county’s 1,038 seniors in the county’s 18 school districts complete a scholarship application.
Since the application for high school seniors closed on March 15, the Foundation’s Scholarship and Program team has been working to score student applications and collaborating with scholarship committee members and fundholders to match applicants with potential awards. In most cases, students and school districts will be notified of student selection before graduation in June.
In partnership with donors and tri-county school districts, the Community Foundation last year awarded $1.56 million in scholarship support to 743 graduating high school seniors from Jefferson, Lewis, and St. Lawrence counties. The total number of students awarded support also includes scholarships whose recipients are selected by school officials. The average award in 2025 was $2,100 per student. In many cases, eligible students were awarded more than one scholarship to pursue their educational goals.
Contact Gwyn Monnat, director of scholarships and programs, 315-782-7110, or gwyn@nnycf.org, with questions about Community Foundation scholarships.
About the Northern New York Community Foundation
Since 1929, the Northern New York Community Foundation has invested in improving and enriching the quality of life for all in communities across Jefferson, Lewis, and St. Lawrence counties.
Through partnerships with businesses and organizations, charitable foundations, and generous families and individual donors, the Community Foundation awards grants and scholarships from an endowment and collection of funds that benefit the region. Its commitment to donors helps individuals achieve their charitable objectives now and for generations to come by preserving and honoring legacies of community philanthropy while inspiring others.
The Community Foundation is a resource for local charitable organizations, donors, professional advisors and nonprofit organizations. It also works to bring people together at its permanent home in the Northern New York Philanthropy Center to discuss challenges our communities face and find creative solutions that strengthen the region and make it a great place to live, work, and play.