Scholarship Chair: Frank Eley

Scholarship Committee Members: Frank Eley, Rebecca Guider (REAOC Representatives) and Ryan Crowdis and Brenda Gomez (OC Dept. of Education)

REAOC proudly awards up to six scholarships annually to relatives of REAOC members.  These awards are known as the Keith L. Concannon Scholarship Awards.  Application informational packets are available at the Scholarship tab under Quick Lists.  Applications and/or informational packets may be requested by calling REAOC at (714) 840-3995 or e-mailing REAOC at reaoc@reaoc.org to request an electronic application. The Committee begins its work each September, identifying changes that are needed in the application or other forms and planning for the process ahead.  Each Informer contains an article about the status of the scholarships awards and what members/applicants must do by certain deadlines. Committee members develop these articles and submit them to the Informer Editor. Applications are available beginning In January and are due with a postmark date of April 1.  In February, the Committee meets to develop the schedule.  The Orange County Department of Education (OCDE) is also involved in the review process. Electronic applications are sent to the REAOC Executive Director, who redacts all of the student’s and retiree’s identifying information and assigns a number to each application.  No member of the committee knows who the applicant is or who the retiree relative is.  Applications are reviewed by the committee as well as staff from OCDE and scores are assigned. The top scorers are awarded scholarships.    The winners are invited to the May REAOC luncheon, together with several friends or family members.  The awards and checks are delivered to the winners at the luncheon.  The committee members act as hosts to the award winners and their families during the luncheon and take pictures during the ceremony.  These photos are published in the next Informer. Committee Status: There is an opening for a volunteer for this committee.