Four School Districts Earn a Share of $5,000 in Grant Funding for Increasing Student Participation in Scholarship Program
WATERTOWN — Four school districts across Jefferson, Lewis, and St. Lawrence counties were recently named winners of the Community Foundation’s Class of 2025 Scholarship Challenge and earned a share of $5,000 in grant funding.
Three school districts — one in each county the Community Foundation serves — each received a $1,000 grant and a fourth was awarded the top Scholarship Challenge grant of $2,000.
Lewis County’s South Lewis Central School District is the top grant winner with 32 percent, or 15, of its 47 seniors submitting scholarship applications.
“We appreciate all the work the Community Foundation team put into making this scholarship completion campaign so successful,” South Lewis High School Counselor Julie Burmingham said. “How exciting for our seniors!”
Winning school districts receiving a $1,000 grant are: Jefferson County’s LaFargeville Central School with 56 percent, or 22, of its 39 seniors submitting applications; Lewis County’s Copenhagen Central School with 50 percent, or 11, of its 22 seniors submitting applications; and St. Lawrence County’s Lisbon Central School with 37 percent, or 17, of its 46 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 2025 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.
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.
“It was great to see the schools participate in a spirited competition, especially knowing that by increasing the participation rate, everyone wins,” said Rande S. Richardson, Community Foundation executive director. “We are grateful for everyone who helped make this our most successful year ever, which will better enable us to align the needs of local students with the generosity of donors.”
Throughout the challenge, the Community Foundation reported progress at the end of each week on its Facebook and Instagram channels.
A record 24 percent, or 604 of the 2,472 members of the Class of 2025 in Jefferson, Lewis, and St. Lawrence counties applied for Community Foundation scholarship support by this year’s deadline. View the final 2025 Community Foundation Scholarship Challenge Leaderboard here.
In Jefferson County, 30 percent, or 356, of the 1,181 seniors in the county’s 13 school districts applied. Lewis County saw 30 percent. or 79, of the 261 seniors in the county’s five school districts apply, while St. Lawrence County saw 16 percent, or 169, of the 1,030 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 hard at work scoring 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 $1.33 million in scholarship support to 583 graduating high school seniors from Jefferson, Lewis, and
St. Lawrence counties. The average award in 2024 was $2,250 per student. In many cases, eligible students were awarded more than one scholarship to pursue their educational goals.
Contact Mary Perrine, scholarship and program manager, 315-782-7110, or maryp@nnycf.org, or Tara Hess, scholarship and program associate, tara@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.