The Best Kept Secrets for Winning Scholarships

2010 Winners - Finally!

2010-07-27T14:25:00.003-05:00

Finally we have the 2010 American Spirit Publishing Scholarship Winners! Sorry for the delay and thank you for all the comments and questions. We know you really are excited about the scholarship.

2010 Portrait of America Scholarship Winner

Roger Rozzi - Granger, IN

We're sorry that our scan doesn't do the photo justice. The actual is a tan/sepia tone. You can see that there is a young janitor looking at his reflection in the mirror dressed for success. Is this his future, his dream, a missed opportunity, or merely another path? Do we look beyond the photo and examine why we or our society might consider one profession better or worse than the other? For these interpretations and more, this is our 2010 Portrait of America.

Finalists

Jamal Holland - Keller, TX
Rita Breneman - Orfordville, WI
Meagan Donovan - Greenlawn, NY
Kristen E. Piner - Marshallberg, NC

Good luck to everyone with your scholarship searches and enjoy the summer!

2010 American Spirit Publishing Scholarship

2010-01-20T05:52:00.004-06:00

The time has come for the 2010 American Spirit Publishing Scholarship. This will again be in the form of a photo contest and offer one $500 cash prize.

The theme once again is "Portrait of America". This is your chance to express yourself through a photo or artwork and explain how you see America or what you believe it represents.

Please complete the following application and include with your entry. Three versions are listed so hopefully your computer can view at least one of them.

By the way, our PO Box has changed so be sure to mail your entry to the address on the application!

Portrait of America 2010 MS Word

Portrait of America 2010 PDF

Portrait of America 2010 HTML

2009 Portrait of America Photo Contest Winners

2009-07-05T02:01:00.002-05:00

Sorry for the delay, but we finally have a winner along with two runners up to boot!

Winner - Anthony Lee of Riverdale, Georgia
Finalist - Logan Runde of Grapevine, Texas
Finalist - Heather Tickhahn of Syosset, New York

The winner received $1000 and the runners up each received $100. Thanks again for outstanding entries, and we look forward to seeing more next year.

2009 Portrait of America Scholarship Contest

2008-10-13T08:51:00.003-05:00

For the past couple of years, we tried having two contests per year - one in the fall and one in the spring. This year, we will have one contest that is open all year until June 1, 2009, and we will increase the scholarship prize to $1000.

The theme once again is "Portrait of America". This is your chance to express yourself through a photo or artwork and explain how you see America or what you believe it represents.

The world is facing many challenges right now on many levels - economic turmoil, terrorism, genocide, and climate change just to name a few. With challenge comes great opportunity. This is yours. Inspire us, your peers, and the world. Good luck!

Please complete the following application and include with your entry. Three versions are listed so hopefully your computer can view at least one of them.

Winner of 2008 Portrait of America Scholarship

2008-06-29T09:15:00.003-05:00

We finally have a winner! Thank you to everyone who entered the contest. Once again we were overwhelmed with the quality of the entries. It makes choosing a winner very difficult. For that reason, we have several finalists this year that received free copies of my book The Best Kept Secrets for Winning Scholarships.

Winner - Ryan Rattan, Garland, TX - $500 cash prize

Finalists

Marcel F. Hidalgo - New York City
Rachel Offutt - Benbrook, TX
Aimee Nicole Cruz - Montgomery, TX
Natasha Skovron - Salisbury, MA

Thank you again to everyone and see you again next year!

2008 Portrait of America Photo Contest

2008-05-18T21:18:00.004-05:00

Once again, American Spirit Publishing wants to see your "portrait", your vision of America! Last year's entries were breathtaking.

Many things are going on in the world - devastation from the China earthquake, famine, war, the Beijing Olympics, new life, blending of cultures, and happy times, too. How do you see America? Share with us an original photograph or photo of your artwork that conveys a sense of "America" as you see it. This is intentionally very open ended.

Creativity wins points. The winner receives a $500 cash award.
Please print, complete, and mail the application form along with your entry to the address on the application. Please postmark your entry by June 7, 2008. Only U.S. citizens are eligible for this award.

Good luck, and we look forward to seeing your entries.

American Spirit Publishing 2008 Portrait of America Scholarship - HTML
American Spirit Publishing 2008 Portrait of America Scholarship - MS Word
American Spirit Publishing 2008 Portrait of America Scholarship - Text

2007 Priceless Pets Photo Contest Winner!

2008-01-20T05:24:00.000-06:00

Finally, after MUCH deliberation, we have a winner for the American Spirit Publishing 2007 Priceless Pets Photo Contest!

Cameron Richmond from Glendora, California
Photo features her cat Chamberlain looking out the window...with his paw on the drawstring for the blinds or window shade. Priceless!
Chamberlain has helped Cameron win a $500 scholarship. Thank you for all the entries. We had several other finalists that received smaller prizes including the book entitled The Best Kept Secrets for Winning Scholarships, which can be ordered from Amazon.com.

The runner-up, Weston Mullens from Mansfield, Texas, received a $100 prize.

2007 Priceless Pet Pics Scholarship - Open Applications

2007-10-15T09:12:00.000-05:00

This year American Spirit Publishing will sponsor another $500 scholarship - the Priceless Pet Pics Photo Contest! So we want you to send us your favorite cute, funny, adorable, remarkable, puzzling, priceless pet photos. We don't care if you have a dog, cat, horse, iguana, skunk, snake, zebra, tarantula, or something else as your pet; if you love them and think it's a good photo, then send it in. With your photo, you can send us a short caption. For now, please mail the applications to us. Soon we hope to have a way to submit your application electronically.

Click here for the application:
American Spirit Publishing Priceless Pet Pics 2007 PDF
American Spirit Publishing Priceless Pet Pics 2007 Word / RTF

2007 Portrait of American Scholarship Results

2007-06-25T21:36:00.000-05:00

We have a winner!!!

Sorry for the delay, but we had thousands of entries again so it was extremely difficult to choose a winner. That's why we had 5 finalists in addition to the winner this year. The winner received $500 and each of the finalists received an award as well. Congratulations to everyone, and we look forward to seeing your entries in December!

Genovefa Castiglione	Weston, FL	Winner
Felicia Kulp	Ellicott City, MD	Finalist
Daniel Owen Comite	Swampscott, MA	Finalist
Mark D. Pillor	Bowie, MD	Finalist
David Miner	Louisville, KY	Finalist
Andrew Fruth	Toledo, OH	Finalist

2007 American Spirit Publishing - Portrait of America Scholarship

2007-03-22T07:56:00.000-05:00

Once again, American Spirit Publishing wants to see your "portrait", your vision of America! Last year's entries were breathtaking and restored hope in America for us.

Many things are going on in the world - famine, war, new life, blending of cultures, and happy times, too. How do you see America? Share with us an original photograph or photo of your artwork that conveys a sense of "America" as you see it. This is intentionally very open ended.

Creativity wins points. The winner receives a $500 cash award.
Please print, complete, and mail the application form along with your entry to the address on the application. Please postmark your entry by June 1, 2007. Only U.S. citizens are eligible for this award.

Good luck, and we can't wait to see your entries.

American Spirit Publishing 2007 Portrait of America Scholarship - HTML
American Spirit Publishing 2007 Portrait of America Scholarship - MS Word
American Spirit Publishing 2007 Portrait of America Scholarship - Text

Priceless Pet Pics Contest Results

2007-01-06T18:55:00.000-06:00

Finally, we have the results for you! We had some technical difficulties with our site so we apologize for the delay. We received some outstanding and oh-so-cute photos... and some downright scary ones, too. Thanks to all who participated, and congratulations to our winners.

Winner: Annie Liu from Oakland, CA with her "On Top of My World" photo with her dog
Runner-up: A.J. Bradshaw of North Richland Hills with his Texas Longhorns pug

Thanks again, and please remember to participate in the 2007 Portrait of American contest. Applications must be obtained from the website and postmarked by June 1, 2007.

Priceless Pet Pics Photo Contest Scholarship

2006-09-25T10:52:00.000-05:00

This year American Spirit Publishing will sponsor a new $500 scholarship - the Priceless Pet Pics Photo Contest! So we want you to send us your favorite cute, funny, adorable, remarkable, puzzling, priceless pet photos. We don't care if you have a dog, cat, horse, iguana, skunk, snake, zebra, tarantula, or something else as your pet; if you love them and think it's a good photo, then send it in. With your photo, you can send us a short caption. For now, please mail the applications to us. Soon we hope to have a way to submit your application electronically.

Include the following:

priceless pet photo
caption including your pet's name
your name and age
your email address
your home address and phone number

Mail to:

American Spirit Publishing
ATTN: 2006 Priceless Pets
PO Box 120937
Arlington, TX 76012

Eligibility:

All current public, private, or home schooled high school students who who are US citizens are eligible for this $500 scholarship award. Please postmark your entry to us by December 1, 2006.

Portrait of America Scholarship Results

2006-06-20T09:52:00.000-05:00

We loved them all; it was so hard to choose! Your creativity is awe inspiring. Please nourish it throughout your college career and beyond! Ok, so here's the news you've been waiting for...

$500 Winner
Lisa Ann King
Longmont, Colorado
Finalists
Zachary Lovelace of Woodbridge, Virginia
Brady Thomas Overacre of Kimberly, Idaho
Andrew Propp of Falls Church, Virginia
Tessa Reynolds of Grandview, Texas

Congratulations everyone! Don't forget - our new scholarship contest details will be published soon! We will have a pet photo contest so take pictures of your dog, cat, hamster, turtle, horse, pig, or whatever!

2006 American Spirit Publishing Essay Contest Results

2006-06-19T12:37:00.000-05:00

Thank you to everyone this year for all the wonderful essays! You truly move us with your inspired writing. We laugh, we cry, and we are amazed by so many of the essays. Choosing a winner is so difficult, but alas, we must. This year's winner and runner up are:

Winner - $500
Isabel Sokol-Oxman
Hillsboro High School
Cornelius, Oregon
Runner up
Julia Siegfriedt-Wilson
Christian Academy of Louisville
Louisville, Kentucky

The winners of the Portrait of America photo contest will be announced soon. Also, we will ahve the details of the next scholarship contest, soon. I'll give you a "sneak peek", though. It will be the "Priceless Pet Pics" photo contest! Start taking photos of your pets today!

Scholarship Winners to be Announced Soon

2006-06-12T05:52:00.000-05:00

This is just a quick update to inform everyone that we are in the final process of selecting the scholarship winners. We had a wonderful response this year. Thank you to everyone! We will announce the winners this week so stay tuned!

~Brenda

How to order the book

2006-06-12T05:21:00.000-05:00

Many people have asked me how they can order the book if they can't attend one of my scholarship workshops. It's pretty easy, really. We tried to make it as convenient as possible.

Order from our web site by clicking here. The order will be processed by PayPal, and we will ship it the next business day.
Order from Amazon. They will ship it within a few business days depending on your shipping preference.
Go to the UCLA Boookstore - this will probably only be convenient for those of you in LA... unless you're a teleporter!
Go to the UT-Arlington Bookstore - good if you're in the Dallas area

And, of course, you can always buy one at my workshops. I hope that helps. Please contact us if you have any problems!

~Brenda

Welcome to Brenda Smith's Scholarship Secrets!

2006-04-10T11:35:00.000-05:00

Hi, my name is Brenda Smith, the author of The Best Kept Secrets for Winning Scholarships. We've been running this web site for a couple of years now, and we're finally getting into blogging. This is exciting news for anyone searching for scholarships and financial aid! I'm so happy that I get to share updated tips and secrets about finding and WINNING scholarships!

Be sure to come back often for the latest tips, or subscribe to our RSS or Podcast feed. While you're waiting for the next post, don't forget to order the book. Click here to order from Amazon now!

Wishing You Scholarship Succe$$,
Brenda