For Recommenders

Recommendations are critical to the success of the Jack Maddox Distinguished Scholarship Program. In a merit-based scholarship program, where student performance in the classroom and on standardized tests can be indistinguishable from one student to the next, the scholarship selection committee relies on teachers and family friends to paint a complete picture of a student.

Teacher recommendations provide the committee with insight into how a student performs in an academic class setting, while a family friend can provide insight into how a student has conducted his or her life outside of the classroom. These insights are crucial to the selection process, which is why the scholarship program requires the teacher recommendations to come from a teacher who has taught the student in an academic course (English, history, math, or science), and the family friend recommendation to come from an adult who has known the student for at least five years.

The recommendation process is a confidential one, meaning that all recommendations go directly to the selection committee and are not shared with the student. We hope that this process allows you to be candid with the committee about the student, inside and outside of the classroom.

We are incredibly grateful to you for taking the time every year to provide a valuable service to the scholarship selection process.