Apply for the Scholarship

The Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Program is active from November through January each school year. The information contained on this page is not to be considered current at any other time.

Before Getting Started
Please read all of the information provided on the Eligibility and Criteria page before beginning the process of completing your application.  To apply for the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship, you must submit the scholarship application form and all supplemental documents as instructed below.  If you have questions about any part of the scholarship application process, please contact us. 
 
Application Form
Complete all sections of the application form. The application form is designed to be completed on-screen and then submitted online.  The form cannot be saved for retrieval at a later time, so you should not begin entering data until you can devote sufficient time to completing the entire form in one sitting.  Some applicants find it helpful to print a blank copy of the form to complete by hand as time permits, and then use this "rough draft" to make completing the form online faster and easier.

Applicants must complete the "Transcript Information" section of the application form; therefore it is essential that applicants obtain his/her transcript information prior to completing the application form.  The application for the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship is provided below: 

Scholarship Application Form

Supplemental Documents: 

1.  Agreement Statement
The Agreement Statement is designed to be printed, thoroughly reviewed, and then signed.  You must have Adobe Reader to access this file (Adobe Reader is free and can be downloaded at www.adobe.com/downloads).  The Agreement Statement must be submitted to your high school guidance counselor along with other required supplemental documents.

Agreement Statement

2.  Essay
On a separate sheet of paper, write an essay on the following quote (limiting your answer to two typed pages): 

Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, "If a man is called to be a streetsweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry.  He should sweep the streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great streetsweeper who did his job well." 

What meaning do you take from this statement?  Discuss the societal impact  if everyone worked with this same passion, vision, and definition.  What can you do to drive this type of vision? 

3.  Letters of Recommendation
Submit two letters of recommendation in sealed envelopes. One letter should be from a teacher or high school counselor. The other letter should be from someone who is unrelated to you and who is not a school official or a Community Foundation board member. Both letters must attest to your school and community service activities, leadership abilities, and show evidence of responsibility, maturity, and character. Be sure to ask both writers to address each issue.

Application Deadline and Submission Instructions
You must submit your application form on-line to the Knox County Community Foundation by January 12, 2010. 

Your application will not be considered complete until the Community Foundation has received your application and supplemental documents.  You must deliver the required supplemental documents (Agreement Statement, essay, and letters of recommendation) to your high school guidance counselor prior to January 12, 2010. Your guidance counselor will attach to your supplemental documents your official grade transcript and deliver the entire packet to the Knox County Community Foundation by the application deadline.

Applications and/or supplemental documents that are received after the deadline or are incomplete as of this date will not be considered.  If the deadline falls on a holiday or weekend, the application is due the preceding weekday. 

Note: All information contained in your application and supplemental documents may be verified with your school and the authors of your recommendation letters.