Apply for Women of Excellence Awards and LLWC Foundation Scholarships

The Louisiana Legislative Women’s Caucus Foundation Scholarship for $2,500 is awarded to the winners of the High School Woman of Excellence Award and the College Woman of Excellence Award.

High School Woman of Excellence

A young woman who personifies excellence in integrity, character, academics, leadership and community service. The nominee must have a grade point average of 3.0, be a graduating senior in a Louisiana high school or approved home school program, graduating in the class of 2019 and be a resident of Louisiana. (Other criteria apply.)

1. Nomination Form - includes the nomination character reference form and letter. See below for more information.

2. Recommendation Form - includes an additional recommendation form and letter. See below for more information.

3. Online Application - This must be completed by the student, who is a graduating high school senior.

I. Criteria of Eligibility:

1. Must be a young woman and a resident of Louisiana.

2. Must be a graduating high school senior from a Louisiana High School or a home school program approved by the Louisiana Department of Education and graduate by May 2019.

3. Must attend college in Fall 2019.

4. Must have a grade point average of at least a 3.0 or higher.

5. Must show attributes of excellence in academics, leadership, community service/volunteerism, integrity and character.

6. Self-nominations will not be accepted.

II. Deadline:

All applications and documents must be uploaded electronically online by Friday, February 8, 2019. All incomplete packets will be automatically disqualified.

III. Application Requirements – A completed application must include the following:

1. Nomination & Character Reference Form and Letter (See the below note.) – Graduating high schools seniors must be nominated for this award. Nominators must complete and submit online the nomination form, which includes a character reference form and a character reference letter about the nominee. The form and the letter must be signed by the nominator and submitted electronically online. The nomination and character reference form is available at: http://jotformpro.com/form/43103238649959. The deadline for the form to be completed and submitted online is Friday, February 8, 2019.

**NOTE: This character reference form and letter must be completed by a completely different person than the person who completes your letter of recommendation form and letter in Item #4.

2. Application – Nominee must complete the High School Woman of Excellence Application and submit the required information online. The application can be completed online at: http://jotformpro.com/form/43104394929964.

3. Essay – Please respond with an essay on the following topic: “The opioid addiction crisis is horrific to say the least. Opioid addictions and deaths caused by opioids have impacted families, newborns, mothers, fathers and households across the United States. (1) What do you know about the opioid crisis. (2) What can individuals and families do to guard themselves against this epidemic? (3) What should local, state and federal leaders do to fight this?" The essay is not to exceed 500 words and is to answer the questions asked. The essay will be judged and given serious consideration. NOTE: Plagiarism will automatically disqualify your nomination and/or application.

4. Letter of Recommendation Form and Letter (See the below note.) – Must come from a teacher, instructor or professor who has had the opportunity to evaluate you as a student. Both the recommendation form and letter must be signed and dated by the person giving the recommendation. These documents must be completed and submitted electronically online at http://jotformpro.com/form/43104071000936. Please send the link to the person, who will be responsible for submitting your recommendation form and letter. The deadline for the form to be completed and submitted online is Friday, February 8, 2019.

**NOTE: This letter of recommendation form and letter must be completed by a completely different person than the person who completes your character reference form and letter in Item #1.

5. Transcript – An official transcript must be uploaded online with your un-weighted grade point average, which includes your Fall 2018 grades. Applications will be disqualified if the un-weighted grade point average is not included. ***NOTE: Obtain an official copy of your transcript from your high school. We will not accept screenshots or photographs of your transcripts nor will we accept transcripts downloaded from the high school’s website. All transcripts must be uploaded in .pdf (Adobe PDF) format.

6. Agreement and Consent Form – This form is to be signed electronically by the applicant and her parent/guardian (if the applicant is under the age of 18 years old) and acknowledges all information is true and accurate in the application.

IV. High School Woman of Excellence Award Recognition:

1. The recipient will be recognized at the 2019 Louisiana Legislative Women’s Caucus Foundation’s Women of Excellence Awards & Scholarship Ceremony and Reception at a location, date and time to be announced. The event will most likely be held in late April 2019 or in May 2019.

2. The recipient must attend the awards ceremony in person.

3. The recipient of the High School Woman of Excellence Award will also receive a Louisiana Legislative Women’s Caucus Foundation Scholarship for $2,500 made payable to the recipient’s college/university. The scholarship check will be sent directly to the university/college to which the recipient attends by late July 2019.

V. Inquiries:

For questions regarding the Women of Excellence Awards, please contact the Louisiana Legislative Women’s Caucus Office at 225.342.0334 or llwc@legis.la.gov.

VI. Procedural Guidelines:

1. The LLWCF’s Women of Excellence Award Nomination and Character Reference Form, the Women of Excellence Application Form and all attachments will be the determining factors for the Women of Excellence Awards.

2. Upon receipt, nomination data and all pertinent information become the property of Women’s Caucus and will not be returned.

3. The awards’ committee reserves the right to move a nominee to a more appropriate category and to withhold an award in any category.

4. The scholarship will be forfeited if the recipient does not attend school and pursue her degree in the Fall of 2019.

5. The Foundation reserves the sole right to discontinue any and/or all scholarships, categories or awards should an inadequate number of suitable candidates apply, an inadequate number of suitable candidates are nominated or lack of funding realized.

6. Nominations must be submitted via the provided website.

7. Previous award and scholarship recipients of the Louisiana Legislative Women’s Caucus Foundation are not eligible to apply.

8. Current members of the Louisiana Legislative Women’s Caucus, its staff and immediate members of their families are not eligible for the award.

9. Incomplete packages and those missing information will be disqualified.

10. Unsigned forms, letters and agreement and consent forms will not be accepted.

11. The foundation reserves the right to discontinue any category should an inadequate number of candidates apply or suitable candidates are not nominated.

12. All applicants will be notified via email regarding the final outcome of the selection process.

13. After recipients are selected, they will be required to submit the following documents:

a. One Page Biography -- A one-page, double-spaced biography in Microsoft Word format in paragraph form, which will be used in our program book. When requested, this document must be uploaded and submitted to a specified web portal by Friday, April 12, 2019. The link to the web portal will be emailed to the recipients.

b. Short Paragraph Biography – A one paragraph biography in Microsoft Word format in paragraph form. Include the name of your parents/ guardians, major, career goals, special interests and other scholastic honors, achievements and distinctions received. When requested, this document must be uploaded and submitted to a specified web portal by Friday, April 12, 2019. The link to the web portal will be emailed to the recipients.

c. Photograph – An electronic high-resolution photo of yourself (at least 300 dpi in either TIF or JPG format as a separate file). NOTE: “Selfie” photographs WILL NOT be accepted. Please do not embed your photo onto your biography. Please do not send any photocopies or photographs with other persons in the picture. When requested, this document must be uploaded and submitted to a specified web portal by Friday, April 12, 2019. The link to the web portal will be emailed to the recipients.

d. Proof of Registration – Must submit proof of registration from a two-year technical or community college or a four-year college/university for Fall 2019. This must be submitted to the Women’s Caucus Office by June 24, 2019. This will be required before any scholarship checks are disbursed. When requested, this document must be uploaded and submitted to a specified web portal by Friday, June 24, 2019. The link to the web portal will be emailed to the recipients.

VII. Completed Packets Must be Received by Friday, February 8, 2019:

Applications must be completed online and electronically submitted to the Louisiana Legislative Women’s Caucus Foundation via the provided website by Friday, February 8, 2019. Emailed, mailed or hand-delivered packets will not be accepted. All incomplete packets will be automatically disqualified.

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