The month-long period between mid-May and mid-June seems full of one thing: graduates. Starting with college graduations in the middle of May and continuing with the high school graduations scattered throughout June, it seems there’s a fete for a graduate everywhere we turn this time of year.
Of course Disney, as famous as is it for throwing huge celebrations, has to get in on the fun. Every year the Disneyland Resort grants 10 high school seniors $5,000 each in scholarships to help further their education.
The Disneyland Scholarship Program is about more than just good grades. Students who want to apply for the program only need a 3.0 GPA. The scholarship is instead primarily meant to award high school seniors who give back to their community.
For consideration for the scholarship students must log 100 hours of volunteer work for the year preceding their application (for example, 2010’s winners submitted their hours from 2009). They also must be high school seniors who live in Orange County, California, planning on pursuing higher education, and they need to provide verification from the nonprofit for which they volunteer.
Disneyland’s been giving away these scholarships since 2006, and because of that I found it surprising that I couldn’t locate any details on Disney World having a similar program. Fastweb.com does provide a listing for a comparable scholarship via Disney World, but I can’t find any record of it on Disney World’s website, and that makes me wonder if it’s still active.
Either way, even if it’s just Disneyland providing the scholarships, I think it’s great that Disney encourages students to get involved in the community. Though it’s unfortunate that the geographical range for eligible students is so limited, in some ways it’s nice.
I like that how, by limiting the awards to students within Orange County, Disneyland helps to promote a sense of members in the community looking out for each other. Maybe Walt Disney Corporate can take a page from its Disneyland Resort branch and start a similar program open to students across the country, while Disneyland keeps giving its localized scholarships.
Between these scholarships, Disney’s Give A Day, Get A Disney Day, and the Disney VoluntEARS (Disney parks employees band together to contribute to local nonprofit programs), Disney seems to be setting itself apart as a company dedicated to bettering its community.
I’ve frequently been critical of Disney on this blog, when I’ve found that a company that should stand for family values instead promotes the opposite. But then there are times when Disney gets it right, and this is one of those times. Maybe in the future we’ll see Disney roll out even more programs through which they give back to the community and/or encourage others to do so.
If you know someone who might be eligible for the Disneyland Scholarship Program, send them here for more information. Applications are closed (and the awards have been given) for 2010, but keep checking back for more information on the 2011 awards.
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