Scholarship Application

WGPO is pleased to offer a number of scholarship opportunities to its participants who could benefit from financial aid in the pursuit of higher education and/or their participation in the Marching Arts. In addition to completing the application process outlined in this section, students interested in the higher education scholarships (items A. and B., below) must be in their senior year of high school, or currently attending a college, university, or vocational institution to be considered. All scholarships are 1-time awards, and a new recipient will be selected each year. Recipients will be acknowledged at the closing of WGPO Circuit Championships.

Sport of the Arts Scholarship

Awarded to applicant(s)who wishes to participate in a WGPO unit within the state of Oklahoma but may not be able to participate due to financial constraints. Scholarship monies will be sent directly to the WGPO unit. WGPO will award a minimum of $250 one time scholarship to at a minimum one (1) Candidate.

    • Eligibility Requirements: Student must be an active member of a WGPO competing unit for the current season
    • Application to be emailed to WGPO Vice President at vicepresident@wgpoklahoma.org by February 20th at 11:59 pm central time.
    • Letter of Need from the guard director, band director or school representative addressing the candidates need for financial assistance to continue participation in their unit.

Marching Arts Scholarship

Awarded to help pay corps member dues while the recipient participates in any of the Drum Corps International (DCI) member corps during the summer season immediately following WGPO Championships. Scholarship monies will be sent directly to the DCI unit of the scholarship recipients. WGPO will award, at minimum, a $500 one time scholarship to at least one (1) candidate.

  • Application to be emailed to WGPO Vice President at vicepresident@wgpoklahoma.org by March 1st at 11:59 pm central time.
  • The applicant must submit an essay response (containing no less than 500 words) to “How has participation in Winter Guard/Percussion/Winds affected my life? How will I carry these experiences into the rest of my life?”
  • The applicant must submit a statement of the total financial responsibility for their DCI season, including corps fees, transportation costs, additional expenses.
  • The applicant must submit a copy of their corps contract
  • The applicant must submit 2 Letters of Recommendation from non-family members.

 

Eligibility Requirement
    • Application to be emailed to WGPO Vice President at vicepresident@wgpoklahoma.org by March 1st at 11:59 pm central time:
    • 500+ word essay response to “How has participation in Winter Guard/ Percussion/Winds affected my life? How will I carry these experiences into the rest of my life?” Please include the following in your essay: Financials: Total financial responsibility for your DCI season, including DCI fees, transportation costs, additional expenses.
    • Copy of your DCI contract
    • 2 Letters of Recommendation from non-family members
    • Current High-Res Photo

Higher Education Scholarship

Awarded to help pay corps member dues while the recipient participates in any of the Drum Corps International (DCI) member corps during the summer season immediately following WGPO Championships. Scholarship monies will be sent directly to the DCI unit of the scholarship recipients. WGPO will award, at minimum, a $500 one time scholarship to at least one (1) candidate.

Eligibility Requirements:

    • Application to be emailed to WGPO Vice President at vicepresident@wgpoklahoma.org by March 1st at 11:59 pm central time.
    • The applicant must submit an essay response (containing no lessthan 500 words) to “How has participation in WinterGuard/Percussion/Winds affected my life? How will I carry these experiences into the rest of my life?”
    • The applicant must submit a statement of the total financial responsibility for their DCI season, including corps fees, transportation costs, additional expenses.
    • The applicant must submit a copy of their corps contract.
    • The applicant must submit 2 Letters of Recommendation from non-family members.

Director Continuous Education Scholarship

Awarded to help pay professional development fees while the recipient participates in any professional development or training. Please note: Recipients will be required to present to the full membership about their time and things they learned at the training. Scholarship monies will be sent directly to the professional development organization of the scholarship awardees. WGPO will award, at minimum, a $500 one time scholarship to at least one (1) candidate


Eligibility Requirements:
    • Applicants must be a current head director, assistant director, or tech of a WGPO member unit in good standing for the current season.
    • Applicants must send applications to the WGPO Vice President at vicepresident@wgpoklahoma.org by March 1st at 11:59 pm central time.
    • Applicants must include their full name, email, and phone number
    • Applicants must include the professional development event they would like to attend, total cost, location, dates, purpose of the training and why they want to attend.
    • The applicant must submit a current high-resolution photo (an action shot of the applicant coaching their current unit would be amazing)
    • The applicant must submit a current high-resolution photo

**The Scholarship Committee adjudicators will be three elected unit representatives. The unit representatives will be elected by the Circuit membership at the fall meeting, serve a one-year term, and must be a color guard or percussion unit director in good standing with the circuit.