Previous Story
SCC scholarship awarding in June
The Saipan Chamber of Commerce continues to grant scholarships to deserving students to help finance their education. Scholarship applications were all accepted and are currently undergoing screening. Awarding will be on June 7, 2017, at the Saipan World Resort in Susupe.
“We started with five students and had $10,000 to grant,” said Chamber president Velma Ann Palacios. “We recently expanded the grant to $12,000 to include a vocational student. So we have scholarship grants for four high school students, one for college, and one for vocational.”
“We aim to promote and enable students to pursue their education,” said Saipan Chamber of Commerce president Velma Ann Palacios. (Bea Cabrera)
The Chamber’s selection is precise. The judges, all Chamber members, will select the scholars based on their academic merit and contribution to the community.
“The review of all applications is based on criteria, GPA, community service, and essays. Then we have a short list where a panel of judges who are Chamber members will interview the applicants,” Palacios said.
“We also ask them to write an essay about what they would do for the community. I have judged several times and the hopes, dreams and things the students plans to do is eye-opening,” she added.
Every year, the Chamber is able to raise funds for the scholarship program through events like golf tournaments, the Installation Dinner, and auctions, to name a few.
“The scholars go to high school and college of their choosing. As for our vocational scholar, we choose from the Northern Marianas Trade Institute because we want to promote trade, skills in construction, and culinary.”
“In the coming years, we hope to raise more money to award more grants to more students because it always benefits the community,” Palacios added.
