Morgan Costa-Rhodes Memorial Scholarship

The Morgan Costa-Rhodes Memorial Scholarship, a one-time $2000 college scholarship for current high school seniors, is awarded annually by PACE.

About Morgan Costa-Rhodes

During her short time at Parkersburg High School, Morgan Costa-Rhodes achieved success in every area in which she was involved. In 2011, Morgan was elected President of her high school’s Philosophy Club, was an active member of both the Debate team and Thespian Troupe #264, and, most notably, was a member of PHS’s A-team for Quizbowl as Parkersburg High School became West Virginia’s State Quizbowl Champions in 2011. She was also an artist; Morgan’s art was selected as the winner of the Young Authors Festival’s cover art contest for their annual publication. Serving as an artist for PHS’s journalism staff, she also drew the design used for her thespian troupes t-shirts, made especially for their performance of Alice in Wonderland.

Morgan made the most of her time in life. This scholarship serves to commemorate her spirit as a philanthropist, an intellectual force, and a person who was just all-around happy to be here.

Eligibility

Current high school seniors are eligible for this one-time $2000 scholarship. No immediate relatives of PACE Members are eligible.

Students who 1) have demonstrated an interest in quizbowl, 2) have performed community service, and 3) have financial need, are encouraged to apply. These three criteria will be weighted equally.

Required materials

To apply, applicants should email the following materials to costascholarship@pace-nsc.org. It is best to include this information in the body of the message or as a Word document so that it is easy for our compiler to remove identifying information. The people who read the information will not see it in its original format, so don’t worry about file formatting.

– Name, address, email address, guardian name, guardian email address, high school, and FAFSA Expected Family Contribution (EFC). If and only if the FAFSA EFC does not accurately portray the applicant’s financial need situation, applicants may add a short description of their financial need, maximum one page. The committee strongly encourages applicants with an EFC of over $10,000 to include a short statement explaining their financial situation and how their EFC may not accurately convey it.

– A short essay describing the applicant’s high school quizbowl career and how it has impacted their life, at most one page.

– A short essay describing the applicant’s community service and how it has impacted their life, at most one page. Community service need not be quizbowl-related.

– A reference letter from an adult who is familiar with the student’s quizbowl experience and/or the student’s community service. This letter should be sent directly from the adult, not from the student, with the student’s name included in the subject line of the email.

Applications will be considered on an equal basis of the applicant’s demonstrated interest in quizbowl, community service, and financial need. Applications will be reviewed blindly by a member of the Costa family as well as four PACE members selected by and including the PACE President. The recipient will be selected by a consensus among these five people.

Important dates

Applications for the 2024 scholarship are closed. Congratulations to this year’s recipient, Mary Curtis! Applications for next year will open in winter 2025.

Note

The scholarship money will be sent directly to the college unless the recipient provides a reason why it should be handled otherwise.

For any questions regarding the scholarship, please contact costascholarship@pace-nsc.org.

Previous Winners

2017 – Casey Wetherbee – Ithaca High School, Ithaca, NY
2018 – Catherine Qian- Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School, Richmond, VA
2019 – Manith Luthria – Carnegie Vanguard High School, Houston, TX
2020 – Nadya Ellerhorst – Walnut Hills High School, Cincinnati, OH
2021 – Chaney Scott McCorquodale – UMS-Wright Preparatory School, Mobile, AL
2022 – Kyle Meyer – Washington High School, Washington, MO
2023 – Emujin Tsogtjargal – Maine East High School, Park Ridge, IL
2024 – Mary Curtis – Lutheran East High School, Edwardsville, IL