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Applications for this year's William A. Lee Memorial Scholarship are now available online. The Chicago Federation of Labor will award 10 college scholarships to high school seniors, valued at $2,000 each, to five winners of the Academic Competition and five winners of the Random Drawing.

The William A. Lee Memorial Scholarship was created to show high school seniors that the Labor Movement stands in solidarity with them as they continue their educational pursuits. However, over the last few years, we have seen that some of our winners do not truly understand the importance of the Labor Movement in their own lives. To that end, the CFL restructured our scholarship to include a short essay section where applicants will answer the question: How has the Labor Movement impacted my life? It is our hope that the candidates, after writing this essay, will understand and appreciate how the Labor Movement gives a voice to workers, creates better standards and fights to protect workplace democracy. Essays will be evaluated and ranked by the Scholarship Committee based on best expression of personal experience and a fundamental understanding of what the Labor Movement represents. We will also consider style, grammar, spelling, punctuation and composition. Please note: Applicants for both the Academic Competition and the Random Drawing must complete the personal essay to qualify for the scholarship.

IMPORTANT CHANGE: To give students an opportunity to work on their essays over the holiday break, the applications are now available online. The application deadline is February 15, 2017.