About the Scholarship

History:

DSD Scholarship Fund was established, and continues to be funded by the family and friends of Joe and Marion Daniels, Helen and Ralph Smialowicz, and Ed and Anita Daniels.  Donations are enthusiastically made and range from returning bottles and cans to gifts of $1000+.  Donors include many friends and their families rounding out a donor list of hundreds.

With many family members in the field of education there was broad respect for the process.  Ed Daniels Jr, a science teacher, created the scholarship to support family in that goal.  A couple years later the DSD was incorporated as a 501(c)3 charity and the financial aid opened to all applicants.

Our primary fundraiser is the DSD Memorial Golf Tournament and After Party hosted for years by Dave and Nancy Daniels. Dave passed away in 2023 and $10,000 was donated to DSD in lieu of flowers in his memory.  Most recently, their son and daughter-in-law, Greg and Corey, and Kayla DeLuca have taken on the Golf Tournament and After Party.  There is an assisted by an army of volunteers including Jen (Daniels) DeAngelo who brought the raffle to a new level.

The first scholarships provided about $400.  In 2023 a record $10,000 was available to distribute to applicants.

There have been 160 recipients since inception in 1994 receiving a total of >$90,000.

Requirements: 

  • Enrollment in a degree program at an accredited post-secondary school.
  • Previous winners are not excluded from the award.
  • Completed application returned by the deadline – July 31​.
  • Non-family members are considered equally with family members.

Helpful Hints:

  • The written word is not the only format to respond to the application question.  Consider artwork, video, photo/slideshow, song, poetry, art, and other formats.
  • If you write an essay it needs to be between 500 and 1000 words.  Use a word counter on your word processor to be sure.
  • Expressions of a personal nature makes the most impression on the judges. Be yourself.
  • Submit early but no later than midnight July 31 EDT.  (No late applications accepted).
  • You may enter revisions before the deadline. The most recent version will be the one considered.
  • Many judges are teachers ,so pay attention to spelling and grammar.  They often have a high bar.

Judges:

One judge represents each of the 3 founding families of DSD.  They do not have immediate family members eligible for the scholarship.  They serve for terms of 3 years, after which the group nominates their replacement and a completely new judging corps decides on the criteria and amounts for the awards.

Judging is based on:

(Not necessarily in order of importance.)

  • Community Service
  • Academic achievement
  • Response to application essay topic:
    • Effort, content, style
    • Creativity and originality
    • Judges consider your current level of education.
    • This is NOT an essay contest.  All information is considered and weighted by each judge individually.