SHINE Homeschool Group, located in the Minford, Ohio area, is the first area homeschool group to establish a scholarship endowment fund at the Scioto Foundation.
Misty Bailey, spokesperson for the SHINE group, said the scholarship fund gives preference to students who are members of SHINE but other homeschool students may apply. Interested students may apply by visiting the Scioto Foundation’s on-line scholarship application site.
The Scioto Foundation’s on-line application site opens on November 1 and the deadline for all scholarship applications on the Foundation site is 5 p.m., February 12.
So far this school year, the SHINE Homeschool Group has 55 families and 135 students participating. The support group is a ministry of Sunshine Church of Christ in Minford and uses its facilities as its base location.
When SHINE was organized in 2012 it involved a small group of families and has grown exponentially. It began largely with elementary-age children. As the students aged, it became apparent that there were not a lot of scholarships for homeschooled students, Bailey said. “Our goal is to award scholarships to kids in our group,” said Bailey, “but we also want to reach out and recognize homeschoolers as a whole for the time, work, and effort they spend. We want to take the money and support the homeschoolers around our area since there is not much out here (scholarships) for them. We want to bring awareness and encourage them and let them know that we see them by offering a little bit of support when it comes to college.”
“When my oldest daughter graduated, we realized there were not many scholarships for homeschoolers. Most scholarships in our area are tied to the public schools, even though the kids participated in many activities in the community.” Bailey explained. “So the group decided to offer their own scholarship.”
“The first SHINE Scholarship was given last year,” Bailey said. “We were excited to offer it. Some businesses wanted to donate to it and we held a painting party as a fundraiser. We wanted to be able to make people aware of the kids’ accomplishments and felt that their work should be recognized, so we awarded one scholarship last year. Now we are setting up the SHINE Scholarship Fund at the Scioto Foundation with the remaining proceeds from the fundraiser.”
The SHINE Homeschool Group plans to hold a murder mystery dinner in February at the Masonic Lodge in Wheelersburg to raise more money for their new scholarship fund.
“We want to thank the Scioto Foundation. It is wonderful with scholarship awards or other work they do; we are grateful to be able to set up this scholarship,” said Bailey.
SHINE’s email address and other information about the group and its fundraising projects is available on its website at https://sites.google.com/view/shinehomeschool .
Contributions to the SHINE Scholarship Fund from family, friends or the general public may be made at any time. Donations may be in the form of cash, securities or properties. Additional information about the SHINE Scholarship Fund or other planned giving opportunities at the Scioto Foundation may be obtained by contacting Patty Tennant, Program Officer – Donor Services, or SF Executive Director Kim Cutlip at (740) 354-4612.
Photos feature representatives of the SHINE Homeschool Cooperative posing in front of Sunshine Church of Christ, along with students and their families learning about careers as first responders.
