Scholarships & Awards
DAR is proud to sponsor scholarships and essay contests for local students from elementary school through college, graduate, and professional programs.
The La Puerta de Oro–San Francisco chapter of DAR is committed to opening the doors of educational opportunity by sponsoring local students; serious applicants are encouraged to review the scholarship criteria and make an appointment by contacting our chapter's Scholarship Committee.
More information on DAR Scholarships for high school and college students can be found at the DAR National Society's site.
Essay Contests for all ages
DAR chapters conduct local, state, and national essay contests annually; local school representatives are encouraged to partner with our DAR chapter to support local students.
American History Essay Contest
The American History Essay Contest was established to encourage young people to think creatively about our nation's great history and to see history in a new light. This contest is open to students in public, private, and parochial schools, and registered home-study programs. Students in grades five through eight are encouraged to participate. Each year a topic is announced, and contest instructions are published online and sent to schools by participating DAR chapters. Essays are judged for historical accuracy, adherence to the topic, organization of materials, interest, originality, spelling, grammar, punctuation, and neatness.
Christopher Columbus Essay Contest
DAR partnered with the National Italian American Foundation (NIAF) in 1996 to sponsor an annual national essay contest in honor of Christopher Columbus. The contest is open to students in grades nine through twelve. Each year the DAR and the NIAF agree upon a topic, and contest instructions are published online and sent to the schools by participating DAR chapters.Essays are judged for historical accuracy, adherence to the topic, organization of materials, interest, originality, spelling, grammar, punctuation, and neatness. Judging at the national level is supervised by the NIAF.
DAR Good Citizens
The DAR Good Citizens Award and Scholarship Contest encourages and rewards the qualities of good citizenship. The program is open to all senior class students enrolled in accredited public or private secondary schools that are in good standing with their state boards of education. United States citizenship is not required.
The student selected as the school’s DAR Good Citizen must have the following qualities:
-
Dependability (which includes truthfulness, loyalty, and punctuality)
-
Service (which includes cooperation, courtesy, and consideration of others)
-
Leadership (which includes personality, self-control, and ability to assume responsibility)
-
Patriotism (which includes unselfish interest in family, school, community, and nation) to an outstanding degree
The winning student will be awarded the DAR Good Citizens pin.
ROTC/JROTC Awards
Gold and bronze ROTC medals are presented to outstanding high school and college cadets.
-
The NSDAR Gold ROTC Medal is awarded to a college or university graduate being commissioned in the U.S. Armed Forces.
-
The NSDAR Bronze ROTC Medal is awarded to a student in a secondary school JROTC program (junior or senior), a junior college graduating senior, or a graduating senior of a U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Unit.
