Rex Grove Creative Writing Scholarship

Rex Grove was an English teacher at Pleasant Valley High School from 1963 - 1995. Mr. Grove taught 1,000+ students over the years to think, craft a story, and engage the audience. His quiet skill was getting students to share what mattered most to them while building a trusting partnership to give critical feedback, all in the effort to make them better. Every assignment was a new challenge, and one his students would often never forget.

This scholarship honors a student who focused their energy in Creative Writing or more widely in the field of English. This student over their academic career at Pleasant Valley has demonstrated a particular passion for writing through submitting their content into competitions, publications, or for peer review.

The winner of this scholarship has challenged themselves to continually improve their writing skills, accepted feedback as a gift, and pushed the boundaries of what is comfortable. The awardees is chosen by the administration/counselors. Each awardee will demonstrate the following:

·         Needs to be well prepared by their K-12 experiences and to pursue some form of post-secondary education to expand and refine their skills and background

·         Academic Preparation - the ability to reason, solve problems, apply knowledge, and communicate effectively

·         Writing endeavors - involvement in academic or feature based writing

·         Interpersonal Skills - the ability to listen, empathize, and work effectively with others - individually or in groups

·         Professional Behaviors - responsibility and dependability

Criteria to Apply

·         Administration/counselors will select the senior applicant who exhibits the qualities of creativity, writing aptitude, and dedication to the craft of writing.

·         Plan to attend a college or vocational school upon graduation

Scholarship Personal Statement/Essay:

• Discuss briefly in 50 words or less your passion for creative writing.
• In less than 250 words (1700 characters), please tell us why you've chosen your field of study.
• In less than 250 words (1700 characters), please tell us what your plans are after your post-secondary education is complete.
• In less than 250 words (1700 characters), please tell us about one of the following: your ability to problem solve, work with others, and/or your dedication to the community.
• In less than 250 words (1700 characters), please tell us how you've overcome an obstacle.
• In less than 250 words (1700 characters), please tell us anything else about yourself you think the selection committee would like to know.