The Washington Apple Education Foundation is bumping up its efforts to reach students eligible to apply for WAEF scholarships in 2021. Annually, the organization awards $1 million in scholarships to students raised in families with ties to Washington’s tree fruit industry. The deadline for qualified students to submit completed applications is March 1 at 11:59 p.m.

With many students not attending school in person, scholarship promotion has been challenging this year, according to a news release from WAEF.

“We are concerned for students this year and do not want to see qualified applicants miss out on scholarship funding for the 2021–22 school year,” Jennifer Witherbee, WAEF executive director, said in the release. “In years past we’ve visited each of the high schools in our region to share information about scholarships personally with students.”

To make finding the application easier this year, WAEF created a quick link for students: Text the word Apple to 56512. A message will be sent in response with the link to access the foundation’s application and scholarship information.

WAEF also created a new scholarship training website to serve students participating in distance education: scholarshipresources.org. The site contains four courses, with each focusing on a different area of the application process. Students and parents will also find a resource page with templates, information on paying for college and webinar recordings with tips on applying for scholarships.

General requirements for WAEF scholarships and scholarship application links are available at waef.org/scholarships. Foundation staff welcomes phone calls and emails from students, parents and others interested in applying for scholarships. WAEF staff can be reached by phone at (509) 663-7713 or by email at scholarships@waef.org.

—by Jonelle Mejica