Local schools have opened their doors for a new school year. For local seniors, an important deadline already looms.

It’s the deadline for submitting your scholarship application to the Community Foundation of Jackson County. It’s Aug. 17. That’s right, Aug. 17, as in just a week from now.

“This school year is just getting started, but it’s important that seniors focus on getting the scholarship application completed and turned it,” said Dan Davis, President and CEO of the Community Foundation of Jackson County. “It’s also essential that you contact some of the folks who know you best to submit letters of recommendation to help support your effort to receive a scholarship from the nearly 50 scholarship funds available through the Foundation.”

Those scholarship funds include, of course, the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Program, which provides competitive full-tuition scholarships for Hoosier high school graduates attending any accredited public or private college or university in Indiana.

It’s not the only scholarship, however. Many others can also help send Jackson County students to campuses across the state and beyond. Some of our available scholarships are focused on students who plan to attend vocational and technical schools rather than attend a four-year program.

So don’t let the fact that you (or your child) doesn’t intend to seek a four-year degree from filing an application. Who knows? They just might qualify for one of the four scholarships offered through funds at the Foundation that aim to help graduating seniors further their education through vocational and technical education programs.

Our all-inclusive applications are available on the Foundation’s website, www.cfjacksoncounty.org. Please check it out and get busy completing it to ensure that you submit it by the Aug. 17 deadline.

Once the deadline passes, school counselors will provide transcripts and appraisal sheets for each applicant. Our scholarship committee will then review all of the applications and begin the selection process.

The goal of increasing educational attainment among Jackson County residents remains an important part of the Foundation’s mission to help grow better tomorrows.

Concern about the education levels here was a key factor when the Foundation brought together other partners from the community such as the Greater Seymour Chamber of Commerce and the city of Seymour to build the Jackson County Learning Center, for example.

The Foundation’s efforts to improve educational opportunities extends beyond programs focused on college, including support of the Jackson County Education Coalition’s On My Way Pre-K pilot program for 4-year-olds and the encouragement of workforce development in partnership with Jackson County Industrial Development Corp. and others.

It may seem a little out of synch, working with students and counselors now about 2017 scholarships, but it’s important that we make our new seniors aware now of this important step that can help them and their parents finance their college educations.

For information, call the Foundation at 812-523-4483 or send an email to vicepresident@cfjacksoncounty.org. Information may be found on the Foundation’s website at www.cfjacksoncounty.org or on its Facebook page.