The South Jersey Lego User Group (SJLUG) raises funds throughout the year for our Mini-Master Builders Program Scholarship Fund, and donations are accepted from registering families. These funds allow us to accept students from families who may need assistance in affording the class fees.
To qualify - your family must current meet one or more of the following: - Your family is receiving WIC / Food Stamps from a state-funded program. - The registering parent is currently receiving SSI / SSDI. - The family is enrolled in Medicaid. - The family is receiving HUD / Housing Assistance. - The family is receiving Welfare / Cash Assistance - Other situations will be considered on a case-by-case basis
To receive approval to be placed on our scholarship wait-list, you will be required to provide proof of need by providing letterhead or a state card that is currently dated, for one of the above listed programs.
In addition, any student wishing to receive a scholarship, will need a personal recommendation from an adult who is unrelated to him/her. This person can be a teacher, a coach, a religious leader, the parent of a friend, etc. This person WILL be contacted during the approval process and MUST be notified by the parent before they are volunteered by the parent to provide a reference. The reference can be written and submitted at the time of the application OR we can contact the person during the approval process, but all references should know ahead of time and must be given permission from the parent to speak on behalf of the student. Please choose an adult who knows your child personally, who can attest to the student's behavior and attitude. Students without a personal reference will not be considered for a scholarship until they are able to provide one.
Two kids of scholarships are available - Partial Scholarships and Full Scholarships
Partial Scholarships are available to parents who may need help in affording the class fee, and the family will be responsible for 50% of the fee for the first student, and 30% of the fee for any additional students that they are registering at the same time (up to 3 children).
Full Scholarships are available for families who can not afford the class, and will cover 100% of the cost of the class. Full Scholarships have additional requirements for approval - this information can be found on our scholarship application. Full scholarships are provided for one child at a time, as soon as the funds are available to cover.
Class Availability
Once a class reaches 75% full, if there are currently no scholarship students waiting for that class, the 1-3 scholarship seats that we typically hold open will be made available to paying students. If a scholarship student applies for that class during that time and is approved before the class is full, he or she will be placed in the first available class. If it is late in registration and the class has already filled, a paid student will not be bumped- the scholarship student will be offered a space in the next available class that he or she qualifies for.
Notification of Scholarship Families
Scholarship families will be contacted twice - once when they qualify for the scholarship program, and again, 3-5 weeks prior to upcoming classes for which the student qualifies (IE - they are the right age, and have met any pre-prerequisites) and ONLY whenever there are both SPACE and SCHOLARSHIP FUNDS available. Only then will parent(s) be notified that they are able to register their student and they will be given a unique code to apply towards either 50% or 100% of the class fee, depending on what they applied and qualified for.
Length of Scholarship Offering Students who qualify for a scholarship are eligible to receive the scholarship for one year from the date that they qualify. They will be notified of all classes that they may register for, whenever spaces are available. If the student does not register for a class within 12 months of becoming eligible for the program, they will be removed from the program. If no scholarship funds are available for your student within their 12 month approval period, the application may be extended for an additional 6 months if you wish to extend. This may happen if we have a large number of families waiting for scholarship spaces, and we do not currently have the funds available for scholarship students.
Who May Receive a Scholarship
Scholarship funds are awarded based on need, all students who apply will need one reference from a person unrelated to themselves (for example, a coach, teacher, religious leader, etc). Students need to be the correct age and meet any other requirements for the class they wish to register for (for example, if a class requires a previous class be taken first, that same rule applies to scholarship students). Scholarship students who have previously attended a fully paid class will be given priority application status and will be considered first for available scholarship spaces. Families may receive a scholarship valid for one student, for up to two classes within a 12 month period, OR for two students, for one class each.
Occasionally, scholarship offers may be made to individual students as a prize, given out by SJLUG in specific circumstances (such as winning a build contest, etc). These scholarships will be 100% provided for by the SJLUG club / it's members, and the fees are NOT from donors. These scholarships may be awarded from time to time, based on the events and activities of the club. Winners of scholarships through contests or events do NOT need to meet the need-based requirements of regular scholarship recipients.
In providing funds to make these scholarships possible - we wish to SINCERELY thank: The hardworking members of SJLUG (The adult Lego club of South Jersey) Our Parent Donors: - M. Grundel & Family - R. Mcginnis & Family - R. Tasso & Family - M. Doherty & Family
To Date - 3 Students - have been able to attend class thanks to your contributions to the Scholarship Fund!