Photo Cred: yanalya via freepik

This year a Smart Money Initiative Teen Scholarship is being offered to teens from DeKalb and Sycamore High School. The Northern Illinois Federal Credit Union, the Illinois Community Credit Union and Smart Money Initiative are sponsoring this “Smart Money Initiative Teen Scholarship” for DeKalb and Sycamore High School students.

Junior and Senior high school students from these two schools are encouraged to enter. Because of the generous donations from sponsors, the first-place winner will receive a $1,000 scholarship and the 2nd place winner will receive a $500 scholarship.

In order to apply for this scholarship, high school students, in teams of one to six, must rewrite the lyrics to a popular song and turn it into a song about economic/personal finance concepts. After rewriting the song students must then make a music video using their new, original lyrics. The next part of the application process is to submit an application to Gretchen Sprinkle. The application form must be signed by a parent/guardian and the student, regardless of the student’s age.

Candidates planning to apply for this scholarship must be a Junior or Senior high school student attending either DeKalb or Sycamore High School with a minimum “C” grade point average. They must also have financial knowledge appropriate to their age and grade level related to investing, spending and saving, use of credit and other financial topics. Students must also be able to respond to questions from business leaders and media along with earn an 80% or more of the possible points on the video submission. The rubric for the video submission can be found on the Northern Illinois University website. More Rules of the Game can be found here.

Applications must be submitted to Gretchen Sprinkle at gretchen@kishunitedway.org and videos submitted to NIU Center for Economics by April 15, 2021. Winners will be notified by May 14, 2021