Coleman Israel travel scholarships

The Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando announced that applications for the 2015 Coleman Israel Travel Scholarship are now available.

The Ronald Coleman Israel Scholarship Fund was made possible by a generous endowment established by the Coleman family to encourage Jewish teens in the Greater Orlando area to participate in educational experiences in Israel. It is open to all Jewish teens who are permanent residents of Central Florida, and are in ninth through 12th grade. Gap year programs are not currently eligible.

Teens must be traveling on an organized Israel program that is an educational youth/peer program including adventure travel, community service, volunteer work or academic programming. Family trips are not eligible. Funds are for programs in the summer of 2015, and programs during the 2015-2016 school year (like AMHSI). Funds will be distributed directly to the sponsoring organization of the selected trip.

As a part of the application process, students must submit a 500- to 800-word essay about their goals for a trip to Israel (guidelines provided in the application). Additionally, teens selected for the scholarship must submit a 500- to 800-word essay with a photograph upon their return, describing their experiences and insights gained during the trip. Applications are available on the http://www.JFGO.org website.

This year's application deadline is March 4, 2015. A review committee will select the recipients of the Ronald Coleman Israel Scholarship and they will be notified by April 2, 2015.

For more information, please contact Lisa Sholk at lsholk@jfgo.org or 407-261-3175.