Purpose, Timeline, & Tips for Awards & Scholarships Process
Purpose
The purpose of the IHSA Scholarships & Awards is to celebrate the successes of individuals involved with Head Start, support their efforts to further their education, and to promote Head Start programs to those not yet involved with Head Start.
EACH SCHOLARSHIP IS $1,000! Three awards have an accompanying scholarship:
IHSA Head Start Staff Scholarship
IHSA Head Start Alumni Scholarship, High School Junior or Senior
IHSA Parent Scholarship, Continuing Education
New in 2024, all applications are available in Spanish, and the parent applications are available in Arabic.
TIMELINE
Feb 15th - Programs can begin working on their nominations
November 15th - All nominations are due in their entirety
December 15th - Scholarship & award winners announced
February following year - Awards distributed at IHSA Conference
If needed, IHSA will provide transportation and lodging for parent and alumni scholarship & award winners
Tips
If you are a former Head Start student or parent, please reach out to the Head Start program that you attended to inform them of your desire to apply.
Start early and involve your whole program!
Discuss potential nominations and application statuses at staff meetings regularly. This is a chance to check in and support each other throughout the process.
Assign a lead person to spearhead the Scholarships & Award process at the program level.
Turn it into an opportunity for a program award! Have each location make nominations and create a committee to select the top nomination for a program award.
Have nominees complete their documents in electronic format. This makes it easier to submit AND make formatting corrections.
References and applications should all be submitted to IHSA in .PDF format. This solidifies the integrity of the document and allows it to be viewed without formatting changes.
Programs should maintain a relationship with high schools, informing them know of the scholarship opportunities.