High School Seniors! Do you live in Minnesota, North or South Dakota, Western Wisconsin or Northern Iowa? Have you worked hard in school? Are you seeking a career in television and need money for college? The National Television Academy Upper Midwest Chapter wants to help. We will present $2,000 scholarship awards to deserving applicants. How does it work? You have to fill out and submit the application, which you'll find here on the website. You can use e-mail or snail mail. Send the completed application to: NTA Upper Midwest Scholarships Chair Allen Costantini 8811 Olson Memorial Highway Minneapolis, MN 55427 or e-mail: acostantini@kare11.com There is no fee for applying. The award is sent directly to the college or university to defer tuition costs upon the scholarship recipient's successful registration for the Fall 2005 semester. Although there are fine programs in television at institutions in the Upper Midwest, the scholarship can be used at any four year school offering degrees in television-related fields. Past recipients are matriculated at schools from Phoenix to Boston, from the University of Minnesota to the University of Michigan, from Bemidji State to UW-LaCrosse, from the University of Saint Thomas to the University of Missouri, from Arizona State to Holy Cross College. When? The deadline for submitting your application is February 28, 2005. Award Recipients will be notified in April. A member of the Board of Governors will present the scholarship (if possible) at the student's high school in May or June. What is the Scholarship Committee looking for? We are impressed by the over-all quality of applications and sincere interest in the television industry. Grades, of course, are important. You must have at least a 3.0 GPA on a 4.0 scale. However, we place great emphasis on the essay section and the non-academic activities of the applicant. For instance, has the applicant involved him/herself in school TV production (if available)? Does the applicant demonstrate interest in public service through their extra-curricular activities? Also, each application must include a letter of recommendation from a teacher in the student's school. Often, those letters and the student's essay have been the determining factors in the decision whether or not to award a scholarship. Is the award only for those interested in news programming? No. Any aspect of television is acceptable. While most of our applicants are seeking careers in Broadcast or Electronic Journalism, some of our past recipients are studying television production as editors and directors. You might desire a career in sports broadcasting, sales or management. There are many careers in television beyond appearing "on camera". To date, there are ten young men and women from the Upper Midwest studying at colleges and universities across the country with the help of Academy scholarships. Are you next? You'll never know if you don't apply. We hope to welcome you as one of our 2005 scholarship recipients at the annual Emmy Awards Gala in October. Good luck and remember to apply by February 28th. Questions? Contact Scholarship Chair Allen Costantini at acostantini@kare11.com or 763-797-7235.