Winner to be announced at this year’s Poke Sallet Festival in Jackson County. The Blue-Collar Scholars is now taking applications from Jackson County graduating seniors who plan to attend vocational or trade school in the fall. Initially announced in 2023, the Blue-Collar Scholars is funded through the net proceeds from Poke Sallet Foundation events including the Poke Sallet Festival, Downtown Cook-Off, and Glitter & Glee Christmas Market. To date, more than $1,000 has been allocated to this fund. Inspired by the need for more skills-based workers, the Blue-Collar Scholars will help provide funding for those who wish to attend a school that may not fall within the parameters of Tennessee Promise. “Many of the highly specialized trade schools are not covered by Tennessee Promise, such as Auto Diesel college or welding school,” says Casey Clark-Jackson, Board member for the Poke Sallet Foundation. “Our hope is that this scholarship program will grow to fill a gap between the funding that is available and what is needed for these students to enter fields that wouldn’t otherwise be available to them.”
Applications may be found online at www.pokesallet.org, or through the Jackson County High School Guidance Office. The deadline for applications to be postmarked is March 31, 2024, with the winner announced at this year’s Poke Sallet Festival on Saturday, May 11, 2024.
The Poke Sallet Foundation is a 501c3 registered nonprofit organization whose mission is to preserve and celebrate the culture and history of Jackson County, Tennessee with community-driven events, and to provide funding for local teens to attend vocational or trade school. Excess funds from Poke Sallet events go to fund the Blue-Collar Scholars scholarship program, sending local teens to vocational or trade schools. For more information on how to support the Poke Sallet Foundation, go to www.pokesallet.org.
