WOODSFIELD — The Monroe County Soil and Water Conservation District is again helping high school students and recent graduates in the county further their education by providing money toward their college tuition.

The Monroe SWCD will sponsor three $1,000 scholarships for local students who live in the Switzerland of Ohio Local School District. Katie Kovaly, district program administrator of the Monroe County SWCD, said the organization has sponsored scholarships for local students for years and plans to continue the program.

In previous years, the organization sponsored two $500 scholarships but has since increased its awards to three $1,000 scholarships, Kovaly said.

“Last year they increased the scholarships. … They decided to go with that again this year, the three $1,000 scholarships, one for each of the home high schools here in the county and the district,” she said.

Kovaly said the scholarships are meant to encourage and assist local youth in furthering their education.

The district is now accepting applications for the scholarships. Kovaly said those eligible to apply include students in the Switzerland of Ohio Local School District, recent graduates in the district or home school students in the county.

“Anyone is eligible to receive the scholarships, however we do give precedence to anyone going into the agricultural or natural resources-related field in college. But there has been years where we haven’t received anybody that is going into one of those fields so we gladly award the scholarship to anyone we see is most qualified,” she said.

Applicants must be attending or planning to attend an accredited college and pursuing a degree program.

Kovaly said applications can be found on the SWCD Facebook page, website and in the local high schools. Each guidance counselor in the school district has received applications for interested students, she said. The website is monroeswcd.org.

The Monroe County SWCD will select a student from each of the district’s high schools — Beallsville High School, Monroe Central High School and River High School. A fourth scholarship may be presented to a student from Swiss Hills Career Center if the SWCD receives a lot of interested participants from the school, Kovaly said.

The board is planning to announce the scholarship winners during the annual Kiwanis Scholarship Banquet in May. The scholarships will then be mailed directly to the student’s prefered college or university.

Applications must be submitted by 4 p.m. April 19 to the conservation district, located at 117 N. Main St., Woodsfield.