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Community Foundation Announces Winners of Class of
2026 Scholarship Challenge
Published: May 11, 2026 at
11:00 a.m.
By: Press Release from Northern New York Community
Foundation
Community Foundation Announces Winners of Class of
2026 Scholarship Challenge
Three School Districts Earn a Share of $5,000 in
Grant Funding for Increasing Student Participation in Foundation’s
Scholarship Program
Copenhagen Central School’s Class of 2026 class
officers, from left: Isabella Warner, Student Council representative;
Caitlynn Case, vice president; Paetyn Vogt,
secretary; Brenten Mattis, president; and Logan L’Huillier, treasurer,
hold a $1,000 ceremonial check.
WATERTOWN — Three school
districts across Jefferson, Lewis, and St. Lawrence counties were recently
named winners of the Community Foundation’s Class of 2026 Scholarship
Challenge and earned a share of $5,000 in grant funding.
The school
districts — one in each county the Community Foundation serves — each
received a $1,000 grant. One of the three $1,000 winners also was awarded
the top Scholarship Challenge grant of $2,000.
Jefferson
County’s Sackets Harbor School District is the top grant winner with
71.4 percent, or 20, of its 28 seniors submitting scholarship applications.
Sackets also won a $1,000 Scholarship Challenge grant during this year’s
first round of awards.
“The Sackets
Harbor Patriots are a competitive bunch! This year, our seniors set a goal
to achieve the highest scholarship completion rate in the region,” District
Superintendent Jennifer Gaffney said. “The Class of 2026 chose to
pay it forward by supporting a variety of meaningful local causes. Their
actions reflect more than just an understanding of the importance of
scholarships in their own journeys; they
demonstrate our district’s values of gratitude and generosity. Thank you to
the Community Foundation for creating opportunities like this that empower
students to make a difference!”
The other two
winning school districts receiving a $1,000 grant are: Lewis County’s Copenhagen
CentralSchool with 54 percent, or 20, of its
37 seniors submitting applications, and St. Lawrence County’s Colton-Pierrepont
Central School with 27 percent, or seven, of its 26 seniors submitting
applications.
Schools selected
for grant awards were chosen at random during two Community Foundation
Facebook Live events. Grant funding may be used to support a schoolwide
initiative or project chosen by the senior class officers at the winning
schools.
The challenge
sought to inspire greater participation in the Foundation’s scholarship
program from the Class of 2026 and give schools a chance to win grant
support for on-campus programs or initiatives.
The Community
Foundation’s scholarship program supports graduating seniors pursuing
further education — whether at an accredited college, university,
technical, or trade school.
“While we make a
wide range of investments in the quality of life for residents,
scholarships remain our single largest area of impact annually and are an
important part of our heritage as an organization,” said Rande S.
Richardson, Community Foundation president & CEO. “It is our hope
that the widest range of students benefit from the generosity of our donors
and that our goal of changing and shaping lives is fully realized.”
The Scholarship
Challenge was open to all schools in Jefferson, Lewis, and St. Lawrence
counties. To be eligible, schools had to achieve at least 25 percent
participation from their senior class in submitting scholarship
applications by the Foundation’s March 15 deadline.
Throughout the
challenge, the Community Foundation reported progress at the end of each
week on its Facebook and Instagram channels.
A near record 24
percent, or 587 of the 2,459 members of the Class of 2026 in Jefferson,
Lewis, and St. Lawrence counties applied for Community Foundation
scholarship support by this year’s deadline.
In Jefferson
County, a record 32 percent, or 363, of the 1,136 seniors in the county’s
13 school districts applied. Lewis County also posted a new record this
year with 34 percent, or 96, of the 285 seniors in the county’s five public
and one private school districts apply, while St. Lawrence County saw 12
percent, or 122, of the county’s 1,038 seniors in the county’s 18 school
districts complete a scholarship application.
Since the
application for high school seniors closed on March 15, the Foundation’s
Scholarship and Program team has been working to score student applications
and collaborating with scholarship committee members and fundholders to
match applicants with potential awards. In most cases, students and school
districts will be notified of student selection before graduation in June.
In partnership
with donors and tri-county school districts, the Community Foundation last
year awarded $1.56 million in scholarship support to 743 graduating high
school seniors from Jefferson, Lewis, and St. Lawrence counties. The total
number of students awarded support also includes scholarships whose recipients are selected by school officials. The
average award in 2025 was $2,100 per student. In many cases, eligible
students were awarded more than one scholarship to pursue their educational
goals.
Contact Gwyn
Monnat, director of scholarships and programs, 315-782-7110, or gwyn@nnycf.org,
with questions about Community Foundation scholarships.
About the
Northern New York Community Foundation
Since 1929, the
Northern New York Community Foundation has invested in improving and
enriching the quality of life for all in communities across Jefferson,
Lewis, and St. Lawrence counties.
Through
partnerships with businesses and organizations, charitable foundations, and generous families and individual
donors, the Community Foundation awards grants and scholarships from an
endowment and collection of funds that benefit the region. Its commitment
to donors helps individuals achieve their charitable objectives now and for
generations to come by preserving and honoring legacies of community
philanthropy while inspiring others.
The Community
Foundation is a resource for local charitable organizations, donors,
professional advisors and nonprofit organizations. It also works to bring
people together at its permanent home in the Northern New York Philanthropy
Center to discuss challenges our communities face and find creative
solutions that strengthen the region and make it a great place to live,
work, and play.
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