Semifinalists Announced for Monroe County’s Lilly Endowment Community Scholarships: Twenty-one high school seniors selected from seven area schools as semifinalists for Monroe County’s two 2024 Lilly Endowment Community Scholarships

The Community Foundation of Bloomington and Monroe County (CFBMC) has announced that 21 high school seniors have been selected as semifinalists for the 2024 Monroe County Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Program. Congratulations to these exceptional students:
 

• Leanne Anirudham, Harmony School
• Mary Brunner, Seven Oaks Classical School
• Teagen Bullock, Bloomington High School South
• Annalise Coyne, Bloomington High School South
• Dominic D'Onofrio, Bloomington High School North
• Kyle Davis, Bloomington High School South
• William Foley, Bloomington High School North
• Andrew Good, Edgewood High School
• Teagan Hanna, Bloomington High School North
• Amara Hanson, Edgewood High School
• Nathanael Huck, Lighthouse Christian Academy
• Graylie McCanse, Academy of Science and Entrepreneurship
• Deep Patel, Edgewood High School
• Ingrid Pendergast, Bloomington High School North
• Anson Reynolds, Bloomington High School South
• Noah Smith, Bloomington High School North
• Dylan Stegemoller, Bloomington High School North
• Dylan Stringer, Bloomington High School South
• Lucy Tait, Bloomington High School South
• Joshua Tait, Bloomington High School South
• Layla Vamos, Bloomington High School North

The Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Program (LECSP) will provide 147 scholarships statewide and two scholarships in Monroe County. LECSP scholarships may be used for otherwise unreimbursed full tuition, required fees, and a special allocation of up to $900 per year. The special allocation may cover the costs for required books and required equipment for four years of undergraduate study on a full-time basis leading to a baccalaureate degree at any eligible Indiana public or private nonprofit college or university.

The program is administered statewide by Independent Colleges of Indiana (ICI) and locally in Monroe County through the Community Foundation of Bloomington and Monroe County.
 
Monroe County’s semifinalists were selected from among 143 applications submitted by students from seven of the ten high schools that serve Monroe County students. Eligible schools include The Academy of Science and Entrepreneurship, Covenant Christian School, Bloomington Graduation School, Bloomington High School North, Bloomington High School South, Edgewood High School, Harmony School, Indiana Academy for Science Mathematics & Humanities, Lighthouse Christian Academy, and Seven Oaks Classical School.
 
Evaluation Process for Monroe County Lilly Endowment Community Scholarships:
Applications are blindly reviewed and independently scored by members of a Lilly Scholarship committee at each Monroe County high school to identify semifinalists. The number of semifinalists identified is determined by each school’s senior class size.
 
Next, semifinalists submit additional content and references from schools and other members of the community. The Community Foundation Scholarship Selection Committee then evaluates the semifinalist applications. This committee, comprised of community members and former Monroe County Lilly Scholars, blindly reviews and scores applications from the semifinalists to select ten finalists. In October, each finalist will be interviewed, and their interview scores will be combined with scoring from the written applications. In selecting recipients for the Monroe County Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship, consideration is given to student activities and achievements, community and civic service, academic performance, and leadership potential.

The finalists’ rankings, along with the committee’s recommendations for scholarship nominees, are then submitted to Independent Colleges of Indiana, Inc. for final selection of scholarship recipients for Monroe County prior to the formal announcement in December.
 
“This year’s applicants are a group of remarkable high school seniors, who are excelling as leaders in their schools and in our community,” said Community Foundation President and CEO Tina Peterson. “We are proud that they are all interested in pursuing their post-secondary education at one of Indiana’s world-class higher education institutions. We look forward to getting to know each of the semifinalists better and hope all of this year’s applicants will elect to not only stay in Indiana for post-secondary education but will also choose to make Indiana home upon graduation.”
 
Lilly Endowment initially established LECSP for the 1997-98 school year and has supported the program every year since with tuition grants totaling more than $486 million. More than 5,000 Indiana students have received Lilly Endowment Community Scholarships since the program’s inception.
 
The primary purposes of LECSP are: 1) to help raise the level of educational attainment in Indiana; 2) to increase awareness of the beneficial roles Indiana community foundations can play in their communities; and 3) to encourage and support the efforts of current and past Lilly Endowment Community Scholars to engage with each other and with Indiana business, governmental, educational, nonprofit and civic leaders to improve the quality of life in Indiana generally and in local communities throughout the state.
 
For more information on the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Program or other scholarships administered by CFBMC, visit https://www.cfbmc.org/lasting-impact/apply-for-a-scholarship/ or contact Marcus Whited, Program Director, at 812-333-9016 or marcus@cfbmc.org.