Scholarship Opportunities

Update on Scholarship Winners:
Continue With Confidence Scholarship
Thanks to our very successful Pennies from Heaven raffle in May, CCW was able to give a $3,000 scholarship and a $1,000 merit award to two women who need financial support to continue their college studies this academic year.

Barbara (Bobbie) Becker, who received a $1,500 award from CCW in 2005, is the recipient of the $3,000 scholarship. Bobbie is now a full-time student in her senior year at Miami University, majoring in special education and looking forward to student teaching in the spring semester. She has experience in and a deep commitment to special education, having worked as an educational assistant at Breyer and Rost Schools and served clients one-on-one through Resident Home Corporation. Married, with three adult children, Bobbie is also active in Our Lady of the Rosary Parish where she assists with the Interfaith Hospitality Network, the Christmas Giving Tree, and the prayer chain.

Laura Andrews-Francis decided it was time to return to college when her full-time position as a first-grade aide at Sacred Heart of Jesus School in Fairfield was reduced to part-time. Having worked in a nursing home, Laura feels called to work with both the very young and the elderly, and is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Family Studies and Gerontology at Miami’s Hamilton Branch College. Her dream is to one day open a daycare center where the elderly and young children could interact. Some previous credits from Ohio State University carried over, but Laura is in her first year at Miami. She is married and has four children; her eldest is a graduate student, two are in high school, and one is in eighth grade. She is an active member of Sacred Heart Church.

Both of our recipients will attend our September meeting if their class schedules and family obligations allow. Both are deeply grateful for our financial support and the confidence we have given them by selecting them for these awards.

My sincere thanks go to my committee, a caring and thoughtful team who worked hard to be sure our awards were well-directed: Pat Evans, Anne Flottman, Kathy Hosking, Joan Knechtly, Renee Milyiori, and Shannon O’Toole.
- Janet Buening, Continue With Confidence Chair

The Continue with Confidence Scholarship for Adult Women

For many years, Cincinnati Catholic Women (CCW) awarded college scholarships to high school students. Now, to complement our new focus on the spiritual development of women, CCW will offer a $3,000 scholarship to support and encourage an adult Catholic woman who wishes to begin or continue her pursuit of an undergraduate college degree.

Who is Eligible:
Any active, practicing Catholic woman aged 21 or older, who resides in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati and is currently enrolled or will be enrolled by the fall term of 2011 in a degree-granting undergraduate program (associate or bachelor) at any accredited college, university, or vocational school may apply.

The Criteria:
The Continue With Confidence Scholarship is awarded based on the following criteria (listed in order of importance): financial need, practicing Catholic status, and community or volunteer service. The purpose of this scholarship is to provide support to a person who would not be able to complete her education without this assistance.

The Process:
Please download the application documents from the links below. Applications will be accepted until August 5, 2011. A committee of Catholic Women of Cincinnati members will select finalists for a personal interview (required), and will select recipients from these finalists. The scholarships will be awarded no later than September 5, 2011; the check will be sent to the recipient’s institution of choice at the appropriate time. A complete scholarship application packet includes the following five documents:

1) Application
2) Personal Essay (as described on application form)
3) Financial Statement/Personal Balance Sheet
4) Copy of your most recent income tax return (i.e., for 2011)
5) Letter of recommendation from your parish priest, deacon, or pastoral associate

Incomplete packets will not be considered. Please return the completed application packet by August 5, 2011 to:

Janet Buening, Chair
Continue With Confidence Scholarship
3520 Mooney Avenue
Cincinnati, OH 45208

If you have any questions, please write to the committee at the above address or e-mail your inquiry to jbueningwordworker@juno.com.