Critical date Jan. 4 for Putnam County Scholarship

Scholarship season is in full swing. Many 4-H and other scholarships are nearing deadlines or will have due dates during the late winter or early spring time.

There are two very important features to being successful at receiving scholarships. The first is a "duh!" but seriously, one has to apply with a quality application! Too often scholarships go un-awarded due to no applicants or no applicants who followed instructions. In other instances, one could pay attention to detail with strong cover letters and power statements to out-compete a limited number of other complete applications. Secondly, power statements will be discussed to enhance applications.

Do not use a "one cover letter fits all" approach for scholarship applications. Take a small amount time to detail each cover letter to be specific for each scholarship application. The cover letter is an opportunity to provide information specific to objectives that perhaps was not possible given the application's format. Using power statements (while remaining truthful) is a key to success. For example rather than simply stating "Putnam County 4-H member for 10 years," one could take deeper consideration of the 4-H career to list power statements like the following:

Exhibited leadership via recruitment of 22 youth who joined Putnam 4-H program and five other youth to become Junior Leaders during last five years.

Spearheaded Backwoods 4-H Club carwash to raise $739 for XYZ Shelter, which provided 147 meals to homeless individuals during 2012.

Power statements must be prioritized and focused on the key objectives of the particular scholarship. If current or past 4-Her's have questions or would like to have a review of applications, please contact the Extension office. Also we have a nice sheet of action verbs to assist in building more powerful statements.

In no way can this column discuss all of the various scholarships available as high school guidance counselors are a better resource for such information. There are many Indiana 4-H Foundation scholarships awarded each year. For information about these scholarships go to www.four-h.purdue.edu and select the "Opportunities Tab" to find scholarships on the menu and follow the path to downloading the electronic forms. These scholarships are due Jan. 15, 2013 to the Purdue Extension-Putnam County office.

The Putnam County 4-H Scholarships administered locally by the Putnam County Community Foundation can be applied for using the Putnam County Community Foundation scholarship form. 4-Hers may apply for many other scholarships besides county 4-H scholarships with one application form.

The 4-H scholarships include the Brookshire 4-H Scholarship, the Darrel Thomas 4-H Scholarship, Putnam County 4-H Livestock Scholarship, and the Putnam County General 4-H Scholarship. Go to www.pcfoundation.org/ScholarshipApplication.htm to download electronic applications. Note an Intent to Apply form is due Friday, Jan. 4 to the Putnam County Community Foundation Office for most scholarships awarded through the Putnam County Community Foundation. The actual applications are due the following Friday, Jan. 11.

The Purdue Extension Putnam County website referenced below will also seek to post links to various scholarships that may be of interest to our Putnam youth. Also if one has a scholarship available and would like to request that the application be posted on the Putnam 4-H webpage, please contact the Extension office.

Check our website www.extension.purdue.edu/putnam to view the most up to date info. You can contact the local Purdue Extension Office by calling 653-8411 for more information regarding column topics or to RSVP for upcoming events. It is always best to call first to assure items are ready when you arrive and to RSVP for programs. While many publications are free, some do have a fee. All times listed are Eastern Time.

Upcoming Events

Jan. 4 - Ext. Homemakers 100th Anniversary Planning Mtg., Extension Office, 10 a.m.

Jan. 8 -- 4-H Junior Leader Meeting, Fairgrounds, 7 p.m.

Jan. 10 -- Putnam County Health Coalition, Extension Office, 10 a.m.

Jan. 10 -- 4-H Volunteer Development Meeting, Greencastle Christian Church, 6:30 p.m.

Jan. 17 -- 4-H Junior Leader Meeting, Fairgrounds, 7 p.m.

Jan. 21 -- Extension Office Closed, MLK Holiday

Jan. 22-24 -- Indiana Horticulture Congress, Wyndham Hotel Indy.

Jan. 24 - Crop Water Management Conference, Beef House, 9:15 a.m.

Feb. 17 -- Putnam 2013 4-H Launch, Fairgrounds, 2-4 p.m.

March 1-2 -- Indiana Small Farms Conference, Danville