Tuesday, October 29, 2013

AXA Scholarship

AXA Achievementsm
$1.3 million available! Let your students know!

Attention high school seniors:
* Are you active in your community?
* Have you led a project that benefits others?
* Have you overcome personal challenges?

AXA Achievementsm Scholarship in association with U.S. News & World Report
* A winner in every state, Washington, DC & Puerto Rico
* Scholarships of $10,000 and $25,000
* Apply by: December 15, 2013
* Only the first 10,000 applications will be accepted. APPLY EARLY!

AXA Achievementsm Community Scholarship
* Up to 375 winners nationwide
* Scholarships of $2,000
* Apply by: February 1, 2014
* Only the first 10,000 applications will be accepted. APPLY EARLY!

Visit www.axa-achievement.com 
to learn more and apply online.

AXA Achievementsm is funded by the AXA Foundation, the philanthropic arm of AXA
Equitable.





AXA Achievementsm is a service mark of the AXA Foundation. The AXA Achievementsm
Scholarship program is not associated with the National Merit Scholarship
Corporation's Achievement Scholarship program.

AXA Foundation
1290 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10104

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Coca Cola Scholarship! Due Oct 31

Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation Scholarship for High School Seniors

The Coca-Cola Scholars Program Scholarship is an achievement-based scholarship
awarded to graduating high school seniors each year. Students are recognized for
their capacity to lead and serve, and their commitment to making a significant
impact on their schools and communities. It is our privilege to award over $3
million annually in scholarships to these young leaders.

Current high school seniors with a minimum of a 3.0 GPA may apply using the
following link through October 31:

http://weblaunch.blifax.com/listener3/redirect?l=de62d981-b6fa-4f91-b0cc-0e7e22d9443c&id=dc8c781d-823a-e311-bd25-000c29ac9535&u=http%3a%2f%2fwww.coca-colascholarsfoundation.org%2fapplicants


For additional information about this scholarship and profiles of past recipients,
please visit our website at
http://weblaunch.blifax.com/listener3/redirect?l=bff5c3a3-d4e9-46ab-99c0-dad463262bb7&id=dc8c781d-823a-e311-bd25-000c29ac9535&u=http%3a%2f%2fwww.coca-colascholarsfoundation.org.

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

OCD Awareness Week - Check out this blog post from Free Spirit Publishing!


Post       : Guest Post: I Didn’t Know I Had OCD: Helping Kids Spot It
URL        :
http://freespiritpublishingblog.com/2013/10/16/guest-post-i-didnt-know-i-had-ocd-helping-kids-spot-it/
Posted     : October 16, 2013 at 6:06 am
Author     : fspguestblogger
Tags       : FSP author, mental health, obsessive-compulsive disorder, OCD, OCD
Awareness Week, teens
Categories : Social & Emotional Learning

By Alison Dotson, author of Being Me with OCD 
http://www.freespirit.com/student-mental-health/being-me-with-ocd-alison-dotson/ )

http://freespiritpublishingblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/ali-dotson-fsp-copyeditor.jpg
When I was in high school I was the very definition of a goody two-shoes. I didn’t
drink or smoke or go to parties. Instead, I spent most of my time with my
theater-geek best friend, holing up in her parents’ basement to watch movies, eat
Doritos, talk about boys, and make video parodies of The Real World. I was obedient
beyond understanding; my parents didn’t even bother giving me a curfew.

While my behavior was near pristine, unwanted thoughts would torment me for days,
weeks, months at a time. Acting happy was often a chore. At my lowest points, I
would immediately feel guilty when I laughed and had fun: Who did I think I was,
being carefree when I was a terrible person who had arguably the strangest, most
immoral thoughts ever? Punishing myself felt better than feeling happy, because I
couldn’t forgive myself. And I couldn’t expect anyone else to, either.

http://freespiritpublishingblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/teen-girl-worried-wikimedia-commons1.jpg
I didn’t know there were people I could talk to who would understand—my parents, a
therapist, maybe a school counselor. How could I open up to someone who might not
understand, though? Of course it’s hard, especially for school personnel who have so
much on their plate, to be intimately familiar with every mental disorder, not to
mention all of the different ways one disorder can manifest itself.

One frustration people with OCD tend to have in common is other people’s perceptions
of what having OCD means. Most people think it has everything to do with germs and
excessive hand washing, repeatedly turning the oven on and off, and having to do
things a certain number of times. But there can be more to it than that. Sometimes
people with OCD have none of those symptoms.


http://freespiritpublishingblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/distressed-girl-wikimedia-commons-chiggen-nilly.jpg
These were religious obsessions. I’d blow perfectly normal doubts out of proportion,
berating myself until I burst into tears of frustration. I’d basically believed I was going
to hell, and it’s pretty hard to be happy when you think your fate’s already been
sealed—a devastating fate, no less. And then there were the obsessions about
diseases and accidents. If I read a book about cancer, I thought I had it; if I saw
a movie about someone being caught in a fire or in a car accident I’d assume I’d end
up in a house fire or car accident, too.

Even as I’d double over in laughter with friends, tears streaming down my face, the
obsessions were there, even if only in the farthest corner of my mind. They were
like a stain on my character, immovable, a nuisance. Light moments were
overshadowed.

I still carried on, of course. I still laughed. I still smiled. Through it all, I
seemed normal to others. When I was really down it often came across to my mom as
typical teenage angst, hormones gone awry, making her sweet daughter undeniably
crabby and rude. But the truth was that I was often miserable and overwhelmed by the
obsessions. It was easier to lash out in anger than show weakness by crying. What if
she asked what was wrong? I’d have to lie. How do you explain that you’re sad
because you’re a bad person? How do you confess that you’re plagued with blasphemous
thoughts or weird sexual obsessions?

The more adults who are armed with the knowledge to help kids with OCD, the better.
http://freespiritpublishingblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/ocd-awareness-week.jpg&h=80
 OCD Awareness Week ( http://ocfoundation.org/ocdweek/ )  is October 14–20, making
now a great time to increase your own awareness. A good place to start is this
fairly long list of common obsessions (
http://www.ocfoundation.org/O_C.aspx#Common_Obsessions ) , obsessions that seemingly
“normal” and happy students may be dealing with in silence.

It’s important to understand that OCD is not a laughing matter, that many of us live
with a tremendous amount of guilt and shame. No one should have to suffer through
this alone. That’s where caring, informed adults can come in. I’ve benefited from an
amazing community of OCD sufferers and survivors as well as mental health
professionals who have dedicated much of their careers to helping people like me—and
there’s always room for more open minds and shoulders to lean on.

http://freespiritpublishingblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/beingmewithocd-from-fsp1.jpg&h=96
Alison Dotson ( http://www.freespirit.com/catalog/author_detail.cfm?AUTHOR_ID=378 ) 
is the author of Being Me with OCD: How I Learned to Obsess Less and Live My Life (
http://www.freespirit.com/student-mental-health/being-me-with-ocd-alison-dotson/ ) ,
new this month on the Free Spirit Website.

Monday, October 7, 2013

Saturday, October 5, 2013

CollegeXpress Scholarship and Directory

CollegeXpress has a $10,000 scholarship on their website - which is basically a college directory.  The only catch is that you will have to attend one of the schools listed on their website (over 700 to choose from, including UAB, UGA and University of Mobile).
Click here for their FAQ page which includes a link to the online scholarship entry.

Friday, October 4, 2013

Flyer for Junior/Senior Financial Aid Night


Junior/Senior
Financial Aid Night

October 24, 2013
VHS Auditorium
6:00 PM

Speaker, Stephanie Miller
Jacksonville State University

Door Prizes and Snacks will be served!
Reserve your spot today! 
----------------------------
Student Name___________________________
Parent Name____________________________
# attending:_______
Turn in to the office by Friday, Oct. 19th.

Thursday, October 3, 2013

ELKS Scholarships

ELKS NATIONAL FOUNDATION “MOST VALUABLE STUDENT” SCHOLARSHIP                  500 four-year awards available at the local, state, and national level to graduating seniors who will be judged based on leadership, financial need, service, and  scholarship.  Applications and complete guidelines are available online at www.elks.org/enf/scholars.  Deadline December 5, 2012.
ELKS NATIONAL FOUNDATION SCHOLARSHIPS FOR ELKS FAMILIES                                250 $4,000 awards to the children and grandchildren of dues-paying Elks members.  Applicants must be graduating seniors, who are going on to college, and who exhibit knowledge, charity, community, and integrity.  Applications and guidelines available online at www.elks.org/enf/scholars. Deadline to Elks National Foundation, Inc.:  February 1, 2013.

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Extend the Dream Student Scholarships


In 2011, Southern Association of College Admission Counseling initiated Extend the Dream Scholarships to recognize and reward deserving students. These scholarships are awarded based on financial need, academic achievement, and community service.   Awards are in the amount of $1,000 and are not renewable.  Applications are due in late May each year.
Scholarship Criteria:
  • Applicant must be a current high school senior graduating from a public, private, parochial high school or home school located in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee or the Caribbean 
  • Applicant must be accepted by and plan to attend an accredited, non-proprietary, technical, community or four-year college in the fall following his/her graduation
  • Applicant must have at least a 2.75 grade point average for grades 9-12.
  • Applicant must have financial need
  • Applicant must demonstrate a commitment to community service, social justice issues, and/or leadership qualities
  • Applicant must submit ACT and/or SAT scores