Last year's Classroom Scholarship Program was a tremendous success and we hope our teachers and students benefited as a result. It was difficult to choose only twenty projects from all the viable proposals sent to us. We are happy to inform you that we will be awarding another twenty scholarships for the coming school year. To those who applied last year without success, we encourage you to apply again this year. For those who did not participate, the information below will tell you about the program.

All of us recognize the tremendous sacrifice and dedication of our teachers. Whether we are students, parents or professionals, we know that teachers can never be adequately compensated for the work they do.
Our office would like to take this opportunity to recognize the financial sacrifices each of you has made to meet the needs of our young people and our community. We know that, since general revenue funds are limited, teachers often use personal funds to purchase classroom supplies for their students especially if they are new to the profession. We would like to recognize this dedication and alleviate some of the cost by providing funds to help meet this need.

We are pleased to announce that our office will be accepting applications for twenty $100 scholarships to be given away for the 2008-09 school year. Public and private school teachers of grades K-12 are encouraged to apply. An application form is attached.

In selecting recipients for the scholarships, we will consider the proposed use of the funds, the neediness of the request and availability of alternative funding. For example, proposals may be made for the purchase of lab science equipment, books for reading programs, music stands, or art easels. Since this program is geared to provide supplies to classrooms, scholarships will not be awarded for activities such as school trips or entrance fees.

Applications must be received by September 15th. Simply complete the application form and return it to our office by the due date. Funds will be awarded by October 15th.

A special thanks to each of you who strive to change lives everyday. We are excited about having the opportunity to make your job a little easier. It is our hope that the Classroom Scholarship Program will benefit teachers and students for many years to come. Best wishes for a great school year!

_____________________________________________________________________________________
"Make everyday special with a smile - a SurberSmile!"