Each year, countless CRLS students benefit from the extensive scholarship programs that the school offers. This year alone, a total of $307,702 was awarded to deserving students pursuing diverse areas of interest within the school, with an average of $1,579 per individual scholarship. 233 students applied for 198 individual scholarships, of which multiple could be awarded to one student. Seniors can become eligible for a scholarship through dedication to community service, faculty nominations, and outstanding grades. Students may even be awarded for remarkable achievement in athletics, fine or performing arts, STEM, and world language. Some of the criteria for students can be very general, including “Lives in the Mount Auburn/Corcoran Park section of Cambridge,” “Attended the Haggerty School,” or “Graduate of the Tobin/VLUS School who is attending college and is interested in jazz, technology, or culinary arts.” Students have the opportunity to apply by mid-February of senior year, and the recipients are notified three months later, at the beginning of May.

Learning Community L Dean of Students Susie VanBlaricum is currently in her first year of leading and organizing the CRLS scholarship program. She would greatly urge seniors to apply for any and as many as they would like or are eligible for. “Who turns down free money? It’s a no-brainer that students should apply.” Ms. VB is also a part of the faculty and staff group that meets in order to determine the winners each year. “We have a committee made up of all the guidance counselors, deans of students, and some teachers. We then block off a whole day to make this incredibly tough decision.” This is only one of three ways that winners are chosen. On occasion, sponsors will ask to choose the recipient themselves or to have a narrowed-down group of the top five students from the larger pool to be considered. In regards to who the sponsors are, there is a range from individual donors to large companies or organizations.

Once notified, awarded students then have the opportunity to attend Scholarship Night, held annually in mid-May. Ms. VB explains why this event is crucial for all of the sponsors and recipients: “Scholarship Night is a great moment for the sponsors to get to meet these students who until now had just been names on a paper. It’s especially important because the scholarships are usually created in memory of someone, so the student is carrying on the family’s legacy.”

“Every scholarship is different,” says Julia Guida, who is in charge of sponsor relations as well as the financial aspect of high school scholarships in Cambridge. “Sponsors will often write a check directly to the student, while some will require a copy of the tuition bill.” Students usually have the freedom to use their scholarship money in any academic sense, whether it be textbooks, tuition, housing, or any other needs. The city of Cambridge also annually awards $3,000 to 65 different CRLS graduating seniors, which students may be eligible for by the application.

Scholarship recipient Sagyan Aryal ’19 was able to take advantage of his resources and applied to several scholarships for which he fit the criteria. He is satisfied with the opportunities that are available to him thanks to the comprehensive resources at the school. “The scholarships are definitely very useful because I’m paying a lot for college, and there were so many scholarships which create a lot of opportunities for students.” The scholarship program will benefit Sagyan next year as he pays his tuition for college at UMass Amherst along with almost two hundred other Rindge seniors this year.

This piece also appears in our May 2019 print edition.