The Santa Clarita Valley Scholarship Foundation has created 11 “Saugus Strong” scholarships for graduating seniors across the William S. Hart Union High School District.
The $1,000 scholarships will be available to students at all of the Hart District schools where students are preparing to go onto higher education. In order to apply, students must express an interest in pursuing careers that would respond to a situation like the shooting at Saugus High School on Nov. 14.
“For example, the health industry, fire, police, medical, mental health … anything that is supportive,” said Carol Rock, president of the Santa Clarita Valley Scholarship Foundation. “If they’re going into those fields, that is one of the requirements for the Saugus Strong scholarship.”
The foundation, Rock said, put down the base funds of $1,000 for each scholarship, and has invited the community to help contribute to the funds for each of the 2020 scholarships and endow the funds for future classes.
The importance of giving to each of the schools, and not only a single school, was that the impact of the shooting affected almost everyone, and every student, in the Santa Clarita Valley, Rock said.
“I hate to use the phrase but we joined a club nobody wants to belong to,” said Rock. “And when you go to church you don’t always go to church with people at the same school. Clubs, activities, Scouting, all these activities that our kids are involved in … it’s not just one school and we need to reward the students throughout the district.”
“This incident shook us all to the core, whether or not you had a student at Saugus,” Rock added. “We wanted to do something to commemorate the spirit of this community, and we want to encourage young people to continue to be strong for each other.”
Applications for 2020 scholarships are now available on the foundation website, www.scvsf.org. If anyone is interested in creating a scholarship in honor of or in memory of a loved one, they can email [email protected] for help with the process.
For more information, including the requirements for applying for a scholarship award, visit the foundation’s website at www.scvsf.org.
