It was early July and the back-to-school advertising started. Back to school can mean a lot of different things. For parents there may be a sigh of relief, for teachers a gasp of “uh-oh” but in the marine industry it signals that the sales will likely slow and the preparation for the offseason gets into full swing. 

For dealers it is also the perfect time to start a scholarship for your local trade school(s). That scholarship you create now and save money for all winter to award in the spring becomes a neon sign for the students graduating from that school to look for you as an employer.

As a former school counselor and certified member of the American Institute of Certified Educational Planners one of my favorite jobs was working at a technical school. We held our awards ceremony each spring to present students with certificates and scholarships. Sometimes those scholarships came from regional colleges. Far more often they came from area employers.

The employers developed scholarships to reward students for their dedication, hard work and preparation. Those scholarships weren’t always meant to send a student on to the next level of education. Sometimes they were designated for tools or other requirements of a particular job.

As a counselor working with those students, I can guarantee you the employers had both the students’ and the school’s attention. The students wanted to win recognition and money, or tools and they knew what companies were supporting them. The instructors wanted to ensure their students knew about the opportunities that the scholarships could provide, and they wanted to get to know those employers. The administrators and counselors made sure that those businesses were recognized and involved in the ongoing development of education for their students.

Now, I can also share that we are not talking about high-dollar scholarships. Even $500 makes an impact on a high school senior, while most I found were around $1,000. Their parents love the recognition for their child, and the student finds pride in the notice given to their effort. I imagine when the time came for those parents to look up a business in that particular field, they looked to the scholarship provider first as did many of those in the audience that heard that business supporting students in their community.

Not every student ended up working at the location where the scholarship came from, but many did. So now, as the peak season winds down and all the back-to-school rush begins, I suggest you begin developing a scholarship for your local vocational school. Even if they don’t have a marine technician program, they have skilled students that may provide a great apprentice for you. And as a result, your dealership will make some new connections and maybe reinforce some old ones. Your involvement and kindness will influence an entire community of learners and their parents and  encourage a deserving student to succeed and grow.

You can be as involved or as separate from the scholarship as you like. Many schools invite you to attend and even participate in the award ceremony, but you don’t need to be present. The administrator will gladly fill in if public speaking isn’t your thing. You may attend to meet your award winner. Otherwise, you can send a handwritten congratulatory note on your business stationery. It is up to you, the more involved you are the better the connections you make with the school, the instructor and the students. Now is the time to start! When the end of the school year arrives, you want to draw the attention of potential employees, including those we all seem to need the most, marine technicians.

Here are some steps to take to help you begin in the scholarship process:

1. Contact the school. Ask for the administrator and let them know you are exploring student scholarships.
   a. Your contact, should provide guidance on how you get into the scholarship process with the school.
   b. Some schools may have a “general application,” so you do not have to develop your own.
   c. Work with them to establish a timeline to send applications to students and returned in time for a review period prior to any award event.
2. Determine if you want to have the school choose the recipient or if you want to be involved in the process.
   a. If you choose to be involved, the students can send you their application for your team’s review and to select the winner.
3. If you decide to develop your own application or if the school does not have a common application, determine the qualifications you are seeking in the applicants.
   a. Consider if they need to write an essay and what the question(s) will be.
   b. Decide which classes or trades the recipients can be selected from.
   c. You will need to decide if financial need is a factor in who receives the award.
   d. Set your scholarship/award amount.
4. Finally, determine if the award is a one-time occurrence or if the recipient can apply again the next year. The most memorable businesses had annual scholarships and students came to recognize and pursue those yearly awards, juniors looked forward to the achievement that seniors had capitalized on.
   o For more information on scholarships and the processes around them go to: https://info.scholarshipamerica.org/how-to-create-scholarship

I have included a couple of examples that you may use to start your own transformative scholarship.