Texarkana mom earns scholarship

Job-Applications.com today announced winners of the company’s national Working Parent Scholarship, which recognizes the efforts of students across the country who balance the difficult tasks of parenthood, working, and excelling in school.  A Texarkana, Texas, mom was one of this year’s winners.

Job-Applications.com awarded $1,000 Working Parent Scholarships to: Sandy Chappell, 34, of Chandler, Arizona; Amanda Condon, 29, of Texarkana, Texas; and Desiree Moreno, 19, of Ingleside, Illinois.

Condon, 29, is a junior ­attending Arkansas Tech University in Russellville, Arkansas. She is seeking a Bachelor of Science degree in emergency management administration. Condon has three children, spanning the ages from 4 to 12.

“Thank you for helping me reach my dreams of completing college,” Condon writes. “I believe each one of us can teach the other a new strategy to balancing college, careers, and parenthood.”

Including the most recent round of scholarships, Job-Applications.com has awarded $1,000 scholarships to people in Arizona, California, Louisiana, Michigan, Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Washington.

Job-Applications.com, one of the leading job application resources available in the United States, created the Working Parent Scholarship as a way to help families obtain a better education to help build a career. Applicants submit a 600-word to 1,000-word essay on how to successfully balance parenthood, working and excelling in school.

The scholarships were created by the Canton, Ohio-based company as a way to recognize the financial burden of obtaining a college education. Nationally, seven in 10 seniors who graduated from public and nonprofit colleges in 2014 had student loan debt, with an average of $28,950 per borrower, according to a report from The Institute for College Access & Success. In Texas, the average student debt was $26,250.

“We understand the challenges of paying for tuition while supporting a family,” said Job-Applications.com President Doug Crawford. “I am proud Job-Applications.com has continued to play a part in helping reduce some of the financial strain on families by awarding these scholarships to working parents. Since our Working Parent Scholarship began, we have helped families in 13 different states.” 

Since the Working Parent Scholarship was established in 2013, more than 1,000 people from throughout the U.S. have applied and more than $15,000 has been awarded.