BY KRISTINA HEIN/photo by jennifer mills

Fall is here and winter weather is soon to set in, but Sarah Bacon, a junior from Strasburg, N.D. is already looking forward to big plans for summer. Bacon, a social work major with a minor in Spanish has been awarded a unique and prestigious scholarship from the Jay and Rose Phillips Family Foundation. The award is one of six $14,000 scholarships presented to students attending Minnesota's private colleges and universities. Last school year when she began the application process, Bacon drew upon some past experience working with Kurdish refugees and low income families through the Concordia Reads program. Her proposed program fits quite nicely with her future plans as she hopes to work with refugees and child protection issues.

"Getting to know other cultures and integrating their lives into our culture has opened my eyes," said Bacon.

The Philips Family Foundation is different from other scholarship programs in that the award goes to the student whose project proposal demonstrates the most innovation and potential for creating long-term solutions to community problems. Each scholar receives a $4,000 stipend to be implemented the program during the summer following the student's junior year.

"The application process asks them to take a critical look at the needs in the community and then design an approach that will fill that need," said Chelle Lyons-Hanson, director of student leadership and service and mentor to Bacon during the application process.

Before Bacon began work on her project proposal she conducted some research and discovered that in Clay County the per capita income per year for Caucasians is $14,197 while Latinos earn just $5,001.

"These statistics really struck me," Bacon said.

Bacon's project focuses on implementing a youth group for 11-18- year-old Latino and Kurdish students that will run four days a week, four hours a day, between June and August.

"This age group is often forgotten," said Bacon, who pointed out that many low income families do not have the funds to give children access to community programming, and there are often no programs that appeal to teenagers.

"Stereotypically people in the community think that Latino teenagers are prone to getting in trouble," Bacon said. "I want to find a good outlet for them."

The program will be held at Centro de Cultural, a center for Latino and immigrant families. Lyons-Hanson explained that the center has wanted to start a youth group program for several years and Bacon's opportunity to implement her program will provide the groundwork and a solid foundation for the future of the center.

With plans in place for the summer of 2006, Bacon is excited, but is still addressing issues such as the need for a small staff of volunteers to assist in running activities, events and field trips for the teenagers.

"Hopefully I can appeal to their sense of volunteering," she said, referring to Concordia students. For individuals wishing to become involved in the program Bacon anticipates opportunities for internships and cooperative education credits, as well as an amazing experience working with immigrant families in the Fargo- Moorhead area.

Lyons-Hanson hopes that in the future more Concordia students will propose programs for the Phillips Scholar program.

"This scholarship fits what we expect of students here," said Lyons-Hanson. "It is a direct application of our mission statement because Sarah's project will definitely influence our community and world."