STARKVILLE — The Starkville Area Arts Council has once again opened its summer scholarship program to Oktibbeha County youth who want to pursue their artistic passions.
“SAAC summer scholarships … enable youth from our community to participate in programs that nourish their love of the arts and enrich their lives by alleviating some of the financial stress that comes with those programs that are not provided as a part of their regular curriculum,” SAAC executive director Mary Switzer wrote in a text message to The Dispatch.
SAAC’s summer scholarship program is one wing of the organization’s Arts Education and Outreach initiative. The scholarship program is open to any residents of Oktibbeha County between the ages of 11 and 18 who are not attending college and want to continue participating in the arts throughout the summer.
Juliette Reid, program director for SAAC, said this can include almost anything, from traditional summer camps to online courses.
“Most of the students use it for MSU Summer Scholars On Stage and the 4-H summer arts programs,” Reid said. “But kids can also use it for private art lessons … or music lessons, theater lessons, ballet, anything. As long as it’s arts and they live in Starkville.”
Reid said the program awards approximately $5,000 every year, and the amounts awarded to students are determined individually but can be up to $500. She hopes this scholarship will help to build the city’s art scene over time.
“We want kids to get to experience the things they want to experience, and then stay here in Starkville and continue to participate with us, and the theater, and the symphony, and MSU, to help grow the arts community together.” Reid said. “A $500 scholarship may help to build their love for the arts in Starkville overall.”
Scholarships are determined both on a merit and need basis. Reid said the SAAC is intentional to distribute information about the scholarship to as many demographics as possible, including homeschool, public, and private school students.
“We try to get a good mix of kids who really need it,” Reid said. “Thirty percent of families in Oktibbeha County live in poverty, and that’s a lot of kids.”
Reid said the organization received a thank-you letter from a 2020 scholarship recipient, saying he would be pursuing a theater education because of the SAAC’s summer scholarship program.
“There was a student who went to MSU Summer Scholars On Stage for multiple years, and I think he got multiple (summer) scholarships over that time,” Reid said. “When he went to college, he got a full-ride scholarship to a theater program.”
Joe Ray Underwood, camp director for Summer Scholars On Stage, confirmed the SAAC’s summer scholarship program has helped many students who have come through his program, including “minorities in particular.”
Underwood said as many as 14 students who attend his camp every year are partially funded by the SAAC summer scholarships, and many of them go on to careers in the arts.
“We’ve had kids who end up teaching creative writing in colleges and universities,” Underwood said. “We’ve had some kids who end up on television as actors and actresses. We’ve had students who become choral directors and drama teachers.”
SAAC is accepting applications until April 10. The application process is free, though it does require a letter of recommendation from a teacher or other adult. Oktibbeha County youth can submit their applications through starkvillearts.net/.
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