The Bearcat Foundation continues to pursue goals of partnering with the Mena Public Schools with assistance in areas of equipment, facilities and supplies. Thanks to the generous members and supporters, since 2007, BFI has gifted over $521,500 to the Mena Schools . A very important part of their mission is to provide a scholarship for graduates of Mena High School, and today, they are happy to present the BFI scholarship for the 11th year.
The Foundation scholarship differs from others in that it is scored and judged on a blind basis. All applicant’s names, family names, and commonly identifiable accomplishments are omitted from the application once received in an effort to eliminate any possible bias in the scoring process. The applicants are scored based:
academic achievement,
community involvement,
extracurricular achievement,
and the compelling nature of the essay that is written for the scholarship.
The committee is anonymous and does not consist of any foundation board members. All scoring is done separately by each member of the committee. The scholarship is $2,000 per student.
This 2023 winners of the Bearcat Foundation Scholarship are: Emmi Hines and Emily Leonard