2024 Application Timeline

• February 1, 2024: Application opens

• April 1, 2024: Application closes

• April 30, 2024: Winners will be notified and announced by the end of April

Eligibility Requirements

TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR CONSIDERATION

The Ema Cardenas Scholarship Fund is an annual scholarship awarded to a board-selected senior high school student to be used toward continuing education expenses. For the student to be eligible for consideration, they must successfully complete at least one Barbell Club six-week session during their high school career. Success is defined as meeting attendance requirements and coach validation that the student was an active participant in class. The student must also plan to attend continuing education through college or trade school in the year immediately following high school graduation. 

Applicants must complete and submit the application in full, including required documents, by the deadline given. 

Any person who has a family member who sits on the board of Raise the Bar Initiative or is on the scholarship committee is not eligible to receive the scholarship fund.

TERMS

• Funds are to be spent on tuition, books or fees

  • Money will be sent by Raise the Bar Initiative directly to the school and put on the recipient's account

• Funds awarded must be spent with one year of receiving

• Scholarships are awarded for the recipient's first year of continuing education only

• If the student does not end up attending college/trade school they are required to repay the funds in whole to Raise the Bar Initiative within 9 months of receipt. The returned funds will be applied toward future scholarships. 

Two $1,000 scholarships will be awarded to two seniors who successfully completed the Barbell Club and best embody both Ema’s spirit and the fundamentals behind the Barbell Club and Raise the Bar Initiative.

our review process

After all scholarship applications are received and the application period closes, a committee made up of 5 members of the local Des Moines community blindly review each submission independently. This committee changes each year and is comprised of a diverse group of individuals.

Raise the Bar Initiative believes a blind review enables the most thoughtful and thorough evaluation of each application.

Once each reviewer completes their assessment of each application, the committee convenes to reach a consensus. Applicants remain anonymous through the entire scoring process, and their identities are revealed only after the two recipients are blindly selected.

The Secretary of our Board of Directors is the only individual who knows the name of each applicant, and she does not participate in the scoring of applications to allow full anonymity throughout the review process.