PERU — The Worthley Pond Association will be presenting a $500 scholarship in September to a student who is connected to the association, according to member Sherri Clement.

Clement said that the Worthley Pond Association, which has been in existence for nearly 50 years, has been giving out scholarships “off and on” for the past 20 years.

“It wasn’t until 1992 that we started awarding students with scholarships,” Clement said. “We just figured this is a way to award students for continuing their education.”

In order to qualify for the scholarship, Clement said that the student must be enrolled in a college or university and have been a member of the Worthley Pond Association for at least three years, or have parents, grandparents or great-grandparents that have been members of the association for at least three years.

“Some of the students may not be members of the association, but we accept applications from students who have family with us,” Clement said. “We’re trying to recognize those who have been with us.”

Applicants are being asked to write an essay in not more than 250 words on the topic, “My thoughts on Worthley Pond.”

According to Clement, the essays will be judged by a panel of three Worthley Pond Association members who will use a rubric to evaluate the essays and decide who is selected to receive the scholarship.

“I used to be a teacher, so I came up with some different criteria for the judges to follow,” Clement said. “It asks the judges to rate on a scale of one to five whether the essay stuck to the subject, the level of creativity, how much they appreciated the essay. All of the essays will be given to the judges separately, without names on them to avoid favoritism.”

Clement also said she’d be keeping the names of the judges to herself until they’ve selected a winner to keep things as fair as possible.

The money for the scholarship comes from different fundraisers that the association runs throughout the year, Clement said, as well as from the association store.

Applicants will have until Aug. 31 to submit their essay and a decision will be made by Sept. 15.

For more information, call Clement at 562-4611.

mdaigle@sunjournal.com