SORSEA meeting discusses Nellie Nicholas Scholarship deadline

Sac Osage Retired School Employees’ Association met on Monday, February 19th.  The March meeting will be held at Park Street Christian Church to pack food backpacks for students.  The April  15 meeting will be canceled since we will be going to the MRTA Region 6 meeting on April 19.  An RSVP  for this regional  meeting will be needed in March.

The Nellie Nicholas Scholarship was discussed.  Applications and guidelines were given to the two El Dorado Springs schools.   An announcement was put in the papers.  It was noted that those that couldn’t pick up their forms in person could email Ashley Rogers at:  arogers@eldok12.org to request a copy of the forms.   An early March 22nd deadline has been determined, with applications being sent to Evelyn Boyle at her  1405 S. Jackson address.  It was stressed that all applications need to be sent to Evelyn and not left at school or given to other members.

The Scholarship Committee  will meet  March 28th to go through applications and determine scholarship winners  by April 1st.   This is earlier than in years past .   It is hoped that all applicants will become aware of this change.

We have had many returning applicants, as well  as new ones each year.  Several  recipients have gone on to work in local school systems.  SORSEA has been able to award from 5-8 scholarships each year.  Approximately $20,000 is made available every year for distribution of awards.  The Nellie Nicholas Scholarship has been such a wonderful opportunity for our El Dorado Springs college students pursuing a career in education.  So far, SORSEA has been able to distribute  more than $200,000.00 in scholarships to local students!  Those attending community colleges are not eligible, but can take advantage of A+ tuition payment.  Those students can then transfer to a 4-year college and become eligible for this scholarship.

Nellie was a dear member of our organization and she left a tremendous legacy with this scholarship for education majors.  However, she did not wish this scholarship to be used for master’s work in education.