Online Contests Educate Students
The American Fire Sprinkler Association (AFSA) is pleased to announce the five college students nationwide who have won a scholarship through the association’s online scholarship program, www.afsascholarship.org/secondchance/. These national winners were randomly selected from over 25,000 students who entered to receive a one-time $1,000 AFSA scholarship payable to their respective college, university, or trade school. This online scholarship contest runs January 1 through August 31 each year and awards five $1,000 prizes. The five national winners for 2024 are Marina Alberto, Bay Shore, N.Y.; Amaya Hewitt, Memphis, Tenn.; Aalycia Roseburgh, Las Vegas, Nev.; Evan Schmidtendorff, Osceola, Ind.; and DaLeah Wilson, Stonecrest, Ga.
To be eligible, an applicant must be a current student enrolled at a college, university, or trade school. Applicants are required to read a passage about fire sprinklers, which describes their history, how they operate to save lives and property, and the types of careers that are available in the industry. Entrants also learn about legislation related to the industry and common factors in college/university-related fire fatalities. Throughout the test, students answer eight questions to ensure their comprehension. For each question answered correctly, the student receives one entry into a drawing for one of five $1,000 scholarships. A total of eight entries per applicant into the drawing are possible.
The 2025 Second Chance Contest will open January 1 through August 31, 2025. For more details, visit www.afsascholarship.org/secondchance/.
high school senior Scholarships
AFSA also sponsors a scholarship contest for high school seniors. To enter, an applicant must be a current senior planning to attend an accredited U.S. college, university, or trade school in the fall. Students are required to complete the same online contest as the Second Chance entrants. The contest runs from September 1 through December 31 of each year. For each question answered correctly, the student receives one entry into a drawing for one of five $1,000 scholarships. A total of eight entries per applicant into the drawing are possible.
While the contest took a year’s break for the 2022-2023 school year, the contest was restarted for 2023-2024 high school seniors and garnered over 5,000 entries. The ten national winners randomly chosen are Tanbrance Berry, Lawrenceville, Ga.; Issac Case, Arvada, Colo.; Ethan Kim, Walnut Creek, Calif.; Abigail Palus, Hulett, Wyo.; and Samuel Sunna, Murphy, Texas.
The 2024-2025 High School Senior Contest is currently open through December 31, 2024. For more details, visit www.afsascholarship.org/high-school-contest/.
dedication to education
As an association founded on education and training, AFSA is proud of the success of its online scholarship contests. Since the program’s creation in 1996, members of AFSA’s Public Education & Awareness Committee have sought to promote the scholarship contests outside of the fire sprinkler industry in the hope of reaching students who may otherwise never have recognized the importance of automatic fire protection. These students have no doubt learned the life- and property-saving benefits of automatic fire sprinkler systems. The hope is that they will carry this education with them throughout their lives and share the message with others.
AFSA scholarships are open to U.S. citizens and legal residents and are not based on financial need or grade point average (GPA). For details or to apply for either scholarship, visit the contest website at afsascholarship.org/.