neighbors
LEADING A TREASURE HUNT Connections101 co-founder Jean O’Toole walks students at Astor Collegiate Academy in New York City through the
scholarship search process.
email you the program from the year before,
so you can see the scholarships that are being
given away in your community, who won
last year and why, and who decides,” she says.
KEEP TRACK OF YOUR
RESEARCH, SHE SUGGESTS
O’Toole advises using a virtual calendar to
copy and paste information on when to apply
for specific scholarships,and how they are
awarded. “A tenth grader may come across a
scholarship for college undergraduate
students,and want to apply later,” she says.
The search process should be year ’round.
“There are deadlines every month,” she says.
“There’s no particular season for them.”
SHE PRAISES MAKING
PERSONAL CONNECTIONS
When possible, reaching out to scholarship-givers
helps.A local real estate company
might be giving a community service scholarship
for a graduating student; in that case, a
student could call to express gratitude for the
opportunity,then ask “What are you looking
for in an ideal candidate?”and find that the
award is intended for a young person who’s
done outreach to seniors. “Then you can do a
project that does just that,” says O’Toole.
MOTIVATION SHOULD COME
FROM THE STUDENT,SHE SAYS
“Parents say to me all the time,‘How do
Iget my kid to do this?’” says O’Toole. She
advises them to tap into their children’s
“THERE ARE ALOT OF PRIVATE
SCHOLARSHIPS WHERE THE ONLY
CRITERION IS YOU’RE A STUDENT
WHO’S ON TRACK TO GRADUATE.”
JEAN O’TOOLE
interests.“There are scholarships that (involve)
playing video games, and ones that are for
people who care about animals,” she says.
MANY SCHOLARSHIPS GO
TO WASTE, SHE SAYS
Years ago, says O’Toole, she came across
information about the number of applicants
across the U.S. and the amount of money
awarded to them. “There are 16 million
high school students, and for one that was
available across the nation, 100 people
applied, and 20 received scholarships,” she
says. “Oddsare in your favor if you just try.”
SHE SAYS THAT FALL OFFERS
UNIQUE OPPORTUNITIES
Because families are focused on transitioning
to the new school year in September and
October,“Scholarships with fall deadlines will
have less competition at this time,” she says.
SHE SAYS THATNEED-BLIND
SCHOLARSHIPS ARE
ON THE RISE
Private awards that aren’t based on
financial need are a growing category, says
O’Toole. One large one with a September
deadline is the Cameron Impact Scholarship
given by the Bryan Cameron Education
Foundation.Students must have a grade point
average of 3.7 or higher, and plan “to have a
significant impact on the world,” she says.
The sum available: $20-$50,000 per year.
THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC
HAS LED O’TOOLE’S COMPANY
TO REACH AVIRTUAL
COMMUNITY
Before the coronavirus arrived,
Connections 101 was addressing assemblies
at acost to schools of $250-$500 per
presentation, depending on the audience
size.Now that they are offering online
support,scholarship clubs can meet for $25
per month, and one-on-one instruction is
available for $150 each session.
SHE HAS AUTHORED A
BOOK ABOUT WINNING
SCHOLARSHIPS
O’Toole says she wrote the book
Scholarship Strategies: Finding and Winning
the Money You Need,which was publishedby
Morgan James Publishing last fall,to reach a
still greater audience. “We can only serve
so many students,and there are only so
many school days in a year,” she says. ■
For more information, go to Connections101.
com or visit Facebook.com/Scholarship
Strategies.
PHOTO COURTESY OFCONNECTIONS 101
10 BACK TOSCHOOL 2020 WAYNE MAGAZINE