The 2017 Lapeze & Johns Scholarship

We want to start off by saying thank you to everyone who submitted an application for the Lapeze & Johns Scholarship. We are very excited for what the future holds for the award winner. This scholarship aims to serve multiple purposes: help provide a brighter future for one promising high school student, support and inform the American youth by bringing a spotlight to certain preventable tragedies, and decrease the rate of such tragedies occurring by promoting safer lifestyle practices. Now that the scholarship entry window has closed, we aim to bring more attention to these issues before a winner is announced.

The entrant requirements for this scholarship were current high school students with at least a 3.0 GPA with plans to enter an accredited four-year university after graduation from high school. These entrants were asked to create a public service announcement (“PSA”) or an essay to educate others regarding the complications and dangers on topics that many of our American teens face these days. These topics include depression, bullying, sexual activity, drug use and alcohol use. Entrants were asked to find solutions to these issues through research in an attempt to lessen the damage done to teenage lives. Whether by video entry or written entry, the applicants would be researching and presenting solutions to these problems.

When looking at this list of topics, it’s clear that our entrants would be forced to touch on subjects that can encourage what may seem like uncomfortable conversations. These topics are areas that impact lives dramatically and may cause harm to American teenagers. Our desire was that the applicants would be enlightened by this research process and hopefully share what they learned with others. Thorough research by the applicants would bring attention to these difficult topics on a personal and, hopefully, a large-scale level as the applicants share their findings with those around them. Sexual activity, drug use and alcohol use are areas in which today’s teens are faced with life-altering decisions often. When not handled maturely and wisely, these are situations where bright futures can be cut short by abusive behavior or short-sighted decisions. Depression and bullying are all too common in the lives of teens and often brought about by the improper handling of social situations. Developing teenagers are faced with unique types of stress and often lack the foresight to handle the stress alone. Education, awareness and support are all important to help guide our youth towards a safe and bright future.

After reviewing all the submissions, our team will be selecting one winner to receive a scholarship in the amount of $1,500 to be used towards the winner’s first year of college. The winner will have shown a certain level of topic comprehension and research through the submission process; have provided a creative solution or campaign to address the problems faced by teens; display academic success by way of past academic achievements and test scores; and show their impact in the community by way of extracurricular activities and work outside of school. Our team will work diligently to select a winner that best met the goals of this application process.

While sometimes overlooked, we feel these topics present an ever-growing problem with today’s youth that need to be addressed. Statistics prove that these topics place teens in situations that can be life-altering, dangerous and sometimes fatal. Safety and awareness should be encouraged to today’s society to help raise the odds of preventing these types of harm to our youth.

The 2017 Lapeze & Johns Scholarship

Lapeze & Johns