Onward! Foundation awards $137,700 in scholarships to local graduates

Graduates from Montezuma and Dolores counties picked up $137,700 in Onward! Foundation scholarships this year, with awards spread across 15 scholarship groupings and recipients from Montezuma-Cortez High School, Dolores High School, Mancos High School, Dove Creek High School and a home school program. The awards ranged from $500 to $4,000, money that will help pay for higher education while giving the region’s small graduating classes a direct boost.

The destination list shows how those dollars will shape the county’s next wave of trained workers and professionals. Some recipients are staying in Colorado at Pueblo Community College Southwest, Fort Lewis College and Colorado State University, while others are heading farther away to St. Olaf College in Minnesota and Baylor University in Texas. That mix means the foundation is supporting both students who may return with local credentials and those who will bring back broader experience after studying out of state.

Onward! A Legacy Foundation says its scholarship application window runs from January 1 through April 1 each year, giving seniors and returning students a narrow stretch to get their materials in before the deadline. The foundation was created in 2002 from estate assets and says it has grown from one local scholarship into an organization managing nearly $5 million in assets for scholarships and grants. For families trying to map out college costs in Dolores County, that annual window is the key date to watch.

One of the foundation’s longest-running offerings is the Bill and Peg Rees Scholarship, established in April 2002 and typically structured as a four-year renewable award. It is available to students from Dolores and Montezuma counties and is aimed at applicants who can show financial need and strong goals. That combination makes the scholarship especially important in a rural area where a single award can affect whether a student enrolls, stays enrolled and finishes a degree.

The stakes are clear in a county where applicant counts can determine whether money gets used at all. In one recent round, Dolores School District said the foundation extended the scholarship deadline to April 12 at midnight so funds would not go unused. For current high school students in Dolores County, the message is straightforward: prepare early, document financial need, and be ready when the application period opens again on January 1.