November Scholarship Month: Preparing the next generation with support

Friends, let’s get down to business.

Did you know that more than 1.7 million scholarships are awarded every single year? I don’t know about you, but that number really surprised me. I wish I would’ve known more about the vast amount of scholarships that were out there when I was going through the process 16+ years ago.

And, want to know something even more impressive? The total dollar value of those scholarships is an estimated $7.4 billion dollars. I don’t know a lot about money, but what I do know is that $7.4 billion dollars is quite a bit.

While this month is known for being No-Shave November for all you beard and mustache enthusiasts and experts, surprisingly, this month is also known as National Scholarship Month.

National Scholarship Month is a time to raise awareness of scholarship opportunities for future college students and those in college already.

Scholarships can pave the way – and ultimately help pay the way – to students’ future careers. They provide funding so students can continue to gain those valuable skills needed to thrive in the workplace of their dreams. They are a means to gain additional skills.

Are you starting to see the connection?

Steward Learning Skills and STEM Skills

We believe we do the exact same thing. While we don’t necessarily provide funding to help with college, we certainly help students gain those valuable career-ready skills necessary for future employment.

Our mind-set from day one has always been based around students being entrenched in hands-on exploration and problem-solving, while connecting the classroom to careers. Over time, our experience has shown us the best ways to get students ready for college and a career:

Provide learning environments focused on the student.
Let students exchange and test ideas.
Allow students to fail.
Enable students to collaborate and work with each other.
Lead open-ended projects.

When you look at all our solutions, it’s not just about the products we offer. It’s not about straw rockets, or robotics, or drones specifically or anything else we have in our catalogs and in our shop.

It’s about the experiences our solutions provide to the students. It’s about the opportunities our solutions give to students to gain STEM skills – lifelong skills – they will keep and use forever.

The solutions we provide help students develop perseverance; collaboration, communication, and teamwork skills; and a growth mind-set. All of these are career-ready skills that will help students in their occupation of choice. In addition, employers are becoming more and more aware of how valuable these skills are. Companies and organizations are looking for those who demonstrate initiative and skill when communicating, possess technical knowledge, and can find solutions to difficult problems.

Next Steps

I hope that you were able to see how I was able to connect the dots to what we do here at Pitsco to National Scholarship Month. Scholarships are a means to help students gain valuable, critical skills. The solutions we have are also a means to gain those valuable skills needed for a future career.

Teachers, when you are looking for potential ideas to help your students gain these skills, we would love to chat with you about how we can help. Just as you are, we’re in it to win it for the student. Be sure to check out the grants and funding information we provide to help you invest in STEM, and explore the Pitsco Education Grants Guide for how to take that next step forward!

If your students are to the point where they are looking at potential scholarships, help them develop a plan of action. And, please, don’t forget all the valuable skills they learned during school. Those skills can certainly help during the application process. Add leverage to what they’ve learned!

We would love to hear from you! Please drop us a line, a comment, or anything in between. We love teachers and students alike, and we love working with you.

Not to mention there’s some big money in STEM scholarships and STEM careers.

Here are a few resources to check for upcoming scholarship opportunities or to help you plan ahead for the next funding cycle:

Stay safe and be well!

Click here for more information on National Scholarship Month.

Sources:
College Scholarships Statistics