12/20/15: Multiple Scholarships Available from Junior Auxiliary

Each year, Junior Auxiliary of Taney County (JATC) and the National Association of Junior Auxiliaries (NAJA) award scholarships to help individuals pursue their educational dreams.   Applications are available now for the five JATC College scholarships and the NAJA Graduate Scholarship Program.

 

JATC invites graduating seniors from area high schools to submit applications for four $500 scholarships, one to each high school in Taney County, and one renewable $500 “Scholarcare” scholarship.  Applicants must be from a Taney County high school and accepted to a two or four-year accredited college or university.  To encourage continued service wherever they may be, scholarships are awarded based on the applicants’ volunteering efforts in their communities.

 

The renewable Scholarcare scholarship is designed to help provide monthly encouragement and support to a student venturing out on their own for the first time.  The applicants will be judged on an essay explaining their need for continued support from JATC.

 

The scholarship and scholarcare applications are available on-line at www.jatcmo.org and will be available from High School Counselors.  Applications must be submitted between January 4, 2016 and March 31, 2016. 

 

JATC’s College Readiness web site www.jacollegeready.org contains information and links to help students and parents with the challenges associated with applying to college and actions to take while still in high school to increase success.  Topics include ACT Tips; college visits, applications and interviews; scholarships and financial aid; and campus safety.

 

The NAJA Graduate Scholarship Program annually awards a scholarship to applicants who are pursuing, or plan to pursue, graduate-level studies for one year in a field which addresses the special needs of children and youth.  Graduate fields of study include, but are not limited to, counseling, psychology, mental development, special education, speech pathology, exceptional children, remedial skills development, hearing impaired, and gifted and talented. Scholarships are not awarded for graduate work in administration or in general education.  The NAJA Scholarship Program was begun in 1962 and has awarded more than $1,165,859.00.

 

NAJA submissions can be made until Feb. 1 and the applications and more details are available from the NAJA web site www.najanet.org.

 

JATC and NAJA are proud to be able to provide support and encouragement to students as they pursue their education and move into adulthood.  Scholarships and Scholarcare are just one of the many projects and services offered in Taney County by the members of JATC.  More information about the organization and its projects is available on the website, JATCMO.org.  Membership in the organization is open to women over 21 years of age who wish to make a commitment to support children, youth and families in Taney County.  More information about membership also may be found on the website or by calling Linda Lewis, Membership Chair at (417) 527-3963.

JATC is more than a nonprofit organization, it’s a group of women united by a single cause and dedicated to helping the children of Taney County.  That’s the magic of JATC. Approximately 50 members annually contribute more than 4,000 volunteer hours as they strive to improve the mental, physical, social and emotional well-being of children in Taney County.  

Currently JATC members support and operate eleven projects including Santa’s Gift House; prom dresses for girls in need; stuffed animals for children in the local hospitals; support for the Women’s Crisis Center; School Supplies in January; Book Swap/Homework Helpers for children in extended stay motels; and Heart of Arts, in which members donate art & craft materials for adults with disabilities at Developmental Connections.

Members raise money for these projects through several fundraisers and one major event - a fun Trivia Challenge with dinner, live entertainment and a Silent Auction.  This year the 16th Annual Trivia Challenge and Silent Auction will be held at the Radisson Hotel in Branson on April 2, 2016.   Also, JATC was selected as the sole beneficiary of the first annual Branson Women’s Expo that was held Oct. 10 – 11 at the West Wing Conference Center on Gretna Road.

JATC is part of the National Association of Junior Auxiliaries (NAJA), a non-profit organization founded in 1941 with headquarters in Greenville, Mississippi.  NAJA has more than 15,500 active, associate and life members in 98 chapters located in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and Tennessee.  Their slogan is “Care Today-Character Tomorrow”.

 Published: Branson Daily Independent, December 20, 2015; KRZK.com, December 27, 2015