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Updated: December 6, 2024 @ 1:11 pm
Joplin High seniors Escher Ledford and Brooklyn Laquet show each other their scholarship offers during a Friday assembly at Joplin High School.
Globe | Roger Nomer
Joplin High School Principal Randy Oliver announces the total of scholarships awarded to the senior class through a partnership with VU Scholarships on Friday.
Jessica Holt, counselor at Joplin High School, hands out award letters to Joplin High seniors during Friday’s VU Scholarship ceremony.
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Joplin High seniors Escher Ledford and Brooklyn Laquet show each other their scholarship offers during a Friday assembly at Joplin High School.
Globe | Roger Nomer
Joplin High School Principal Randy Oliver announces the total of scholarships awarded to the senior class through a partnership with VU Scholarships on Friday.
Jessica Holt, counselor at Joplin High School, hands out award letters to Joplin High seniors during Friday’s VU Scholarship ceremony.
The Joplin High School senior class received a rather early Christmas present when their principal announced $467,621,600 was awarded to them through a partnership with VU Scholarships during Friday assembly.
“Seniors, by a show of hands, how many of you have started applying for college scholarships?,” said Randy Oliver, principal of Joplin High School, as he addressed students in the bleachers.
A few hands in the crowd tentatively raised. The goal of this partnership is to encourage more students to apply, as it helps do a lot of the work in hunting down promising scholarships. With Friday’s announcement, the class of 2025 has a better start.
“These scholarships represent not only financial support but a belief in the power of education to transform lives,” Oliver said. “It is an investment in the leaders of tomorrow who will go to make an impact in your chosen fields and ultimately the world around you.”
Jessica Holt, counselor at Joplin High School, explained that VU Scholarships is a company out of Kansas City that serves as a platform to help match students with college scholarships. Joplin High takes students’ GPA, class rank, and other data and submits it to VU Scholarships. From there, the program matches students with available scholarships at partner universities and colleges across the country.
Students don’t have to apply and are offered an option to opt out of the program. But this year every Joplin senior opted in, Holt said.
VU Scholarships partner with over 40 regional universities and colleges. Representing the partner universities at Friday’s assembly were Missouri Southern State University, Wichita State University, the University of Arkansas, Baker University, Emporia State University, the Missouri University of Science and Technology, Southwestern Baptist University and Evangel University.
The assembly featured performances by the school’s pep band and cheerleaders. It was also where students received their award letters with the scholarships available. Scanning a QR code took students to an app telling them the total amount of money they’ve received and a breakdown by college.
“It’s a celebration of all of their hard work today,” Holt said. “We’re hoping that at least one student discovers that college is an option for them with this scholarship, that college becomes a realistic goal for them.”
Andrew Marquez, founder of VU Scholarships, said he makes a point to visit the Joplin scholarship assembly every year. He said Joplin High has been one of the program’s strongest partners. The school staff has a vision for how these scholarships can affect students’ lives.
The $467,621,600 represents a significant increase from the first year of the partnership, where the 2024 senior class raised $335,839,072 in scholarships. Marquez said that is typical for schools. One of the hopes with the program is that it will help motivate the younger students so they can see what’s coming for them in the future.
“Once the younger kids get a vision for their future, they can connect the dots better for their course work and how that affects receiving scholarships for themselves,” Marquez said.
Oliver challenged the juniors in attendance to surpass this year’s total, aiming for over $500,000,000 in scholarships.
“I didn’t think we’d be able to raise as much as the past seniors last year,” said Lucy Erisman, Joplin High senior. “It’s really good we were able to get so much more. I hope it keeps going up as the years go on.”
Erisman was one of several seniors surprised to see the large amount of scholarship money available to them. She is planning to get her business degree with a minor in marketing and entrepreneurship. For her, scholarships are a big factor when choosing a school, so this will help to narrow her options and find the best fit for her.
Joplin senior Landry Wilson said before the assembly he had an idea that the program offered opportunities after high school. However, the ceremony was helpful because he didn’t know about the colleges on the app.
“I scanned the code and it was completely new news to me that I have all this money now that is offered to me,” Wilson said. “It’s a little bit shocking at first because you don’t really know about these things while you’re in high school, but it’s definitely helpful.”
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