Scholarships
College & High School
The Upper Midwest Emmy® Chapter/Foundation can help you pay for some of your school tuition
We offer $1,500 student scholarships to be used for tuition & books.
Scholarships are open to high school seniors and college/university sophomores & juniors or graduate students living or attending school in the five-state area served by the Upper Midwest Foundation of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
Requirements
- Be accepted into an accredited post-secondary school.
- Submit completed online scholarship grant application form.
- Each scholarship requires the student to write a mandatory essay for the scholarships offered. Essays will be judged based on your ability to focus on the topic, answer the question and stay within the 450 word limit. We will also pay attention to spelling and grammar.
- College scholarships require an additional Video Link (YouTube, Vimeo, etc) of your best work. Time Limit: 15 minutes.
- Submit a copy of your most recent high school/college transcript.
- Letter or letters of recommendation from relevant faculty or advisors. Letters of recommendation can be accepted via email info@midwestemmys.org, providing it comes directly from the faculty or advisor’s school account. Hard copy letters should be signed and printed on letterhead paper.
Completed application, essay, transcript, video link (if necessary) and letters of recommendation must be completed by February 3rd, 2025.
You may also email materials to info@midwestemmys.org.
Scholarship recipients will be announced in March, 2025.
Payments to schools will be made in August, 2025.
Donations
The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences – Upper Midwest Foundation is committed to helping the next generation of media professionals.
We offer scholarships to high school and college/university media students. We can’t do it without your help!
The NATAS - Upper Midwest Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization Tax ID 20-1848994.
Each year the Upper Midwest Emmy® Foundation awards scholarships to media students majoring in video media production or video journalism within our chapter region.
Since 2002, the NATAS-UMW Foundation has awarded 98 scholarships worth $220,500 to regional students who want to study media production or journalism in college.
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Text midwestemmys to phone number 56651
Follow prompts to donate to Emmy® scholarships and classroom grants
Piper Murray
Eastview High School, MN
Presidents High School Scholarship
Piper Murray is completing her second year at Eastview High School’s student-run news program, The Flash. Piper has produced news stories and directed, and anchored numerous live-to-tape broadcasts, as well as one live-to-air broadcast.
Piper spent last summer at Penn State’s Bellisario College of Communications Summer Camp for high school students interested in broadcast journalism. The camp provided hands-on experience in anchoring, writing, reporting, videography, and editing, all while working in the college’s state-of-the-art studios and multimedia labs.
Next year Piper will study Broadcast journalism at Penn State.
Sailor Schervish
Theodore Roosevelt
High School, IA
Governors High School Scholarship
Sailor Schervish divides her study time at two high schools. She’s a Senior at Theodore Roosevelt High School, but also studies at Central Campus in Des Moines, Iowa. Only fitting she plans on a double major at the University of Iowa in Communications and Cinema Studies.
Sailor has taken Film and Broadcast classes at Central Campus for two years, editing videos, shooting, writing, as well as running a full professional studio. She also competed in the 48-Hour Film Project in Des Moines in 2023, 2024 and plans to compete again this summer before going to college.
Kaylynn Ruffin
University of Northern Iowa
Bob Fransen Leadership College Scholarship
Kaylynn Ruffin is using her school experience to do media projects in the professional world. She is part of Hilltop media, a student organization on campus where business and local schools pay students to create media to promote a business or make films for the classroom targeted to keep people engaged and informed.
Kaylynn goes to local film festivals and makes campus content. Covering topics of music videos, scary and comedy short films, and informationals about campus topics. She has filmed the process of the Davenport Schools events and helped make the holiday video specials for the community.
Bayliss Flynn
University of Montana
Ulysses Carlini Media College Scholarship
Bayliss Flynn’s home is the Land of 10,000 lakes, but she’s getting her college degree in the Rocky Mountains. Bayliss is a starting goalkeeper on the University of Montana Women’s Varsity Soccer team. She’s studying Journalism and currently working at her school’s Newspaper producing bi-weekly podcasts for the Kaimin Cast.
Bayliss was Minnesota’s first high school athlete to sign a Name Image Likeness deal (NIL) for soccer with the Minnesota Aurora. That deal allowed her to be a promotional spokesperson in commercials, billboards and public appearances. Bayliss also facilitated a press conference and conducted interviews with television, radio, print and podcasts on a local and national level.
Savannah Michele Reinke
St. Cloud State University
Beaurline Foundation Collge Scholarship
Savannah Michele Reinke may study at St. Cloud State University, but she actually started in the Broadcasting Industry at 16 years old. That’s when she started at KMZU radio as a news anchor/reporter in Carrollton, MO. During the summers she still returns there to help with the news and marketing departments.
At SCSU, Savannah is active producing sports at Husky Productions, the student organization which broadcasts St. Cloud Men's Hockey Games on FOX9+. In 2024, Savannah was a Media Specialist for the NCHC Frozen Faceoff where she created multiple feature stories and teases that can be found on the NCHC social media platforms.
Educator Classroom Grants
The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences – Upper Midwest Foundation offers Classroom Grant Opportunities to enhance the learning experience of media students in our chapter region’s high schools and/or 501(c)(3) post-secondary educational organizations.
Classroom Grants allow educators to acquire and distribute resources related to video production, television, and/or broadcast journalism. Since 2017, the Upper Midwest Emmy® Foundation has provided 10 grants totaling nearly $16,600 to local schools for media equipment in their classrooms.
Special Thanks
Special thanks to ACOWSAY FILM COMPANY for its generous donation to fund a major portion of 2025 Classroom Grants.
2025 Classroom Grant Recipient
MVAOCOY High School
Classroom Grants allow educators to acquire and distribute resources related to video production, television, and/or broadcast journalism. Since 2017, the Upper Midwest Emmy® Foundation has provided 9 grants totaling nearly $17,000 to local schools for media equipment in their classrooms.
MVAOCOU High School is part of the Maple Valley Anthon-Oto Community School district. A small rural district about 60 miles southeast of Sioux City, Iowa. The school has 20-23 broadcasting students each semester and is looking to expand into a 2nd class.
Our $2,000 grant this year for a computer will give students more access to create videos for social media and commercials. The iPad can connect to a Production Truck during games to do real time interviews with players and coaches.
Student AV All Stars
The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences – Upper Midwest Foundation recognizes students who are an incredible technical asset to the overall success of a school or non-profit educational student video media program.
These are the hardest working, most engaged and active students in the school’s video program or club. The go-to students who help keep you on the air.
Educators may nominate one student from their school or organization’s media program.
Students should be behind-the-scenes production personnel.
Nomination Deadline
February 3, 2025
Ryder L. Bates
University of Northern Iowa
2025 Student AV All Stars - College Recipient
Ryder L. Bates likes to be involved in all sort of media projects across UNI departments helping to bring publicity to the Department of Communication and Media and the Digital Media major. His accomplishments are particularly impressive given most of them occurred in a single year, many overlapping at the same time!
Ryder plays an active role, in Hilltop Media, the student run media production company. First as an executive and now as the President, running the organization, planning activities, and participating in media productions ranging from short films to client projects.
Ryder is a remarkable leader. One of his many talents is his humility and willingness to work and respect people of all levels of skills. He creates a positive atmosphere, is constructive in his suggestions, respectful and appreciative of feedback and other opinions, and always willing to assist others wherever needed.
Blake Petersen
Iowa State University
2025 Student AV All Stars - College Recipient
Blake Petersen, a native of Elk Horn, IA, is a stalwart performer on several fronts involving Iowa State's school media program. He spent two years as a videographer and on-air talent for the student TV news magazine show "EverGreenlee News."
His credits include working in production for Cyclones.TV, the ISU Athletic Department's regional sports and streaming network. He also has worked as an intern for two minor league baseball franchises - the Fond du Lac Dock Spiders of the Northwoods League and the Iowa Cubs, the AAA farm team of the Chicago Cubs. On the ISU campus, he's also been involved with high-leverage broadcasts for ESPN+ productions at Hilton Coliseum and Jack Trice Stadium.
And during the fall of 2024, Blake served as a videographer for a long-form documentary project chronicling the life of a fellow student sports broadcaster, her twin brother on the football team and their family's up-and-down emotional ride during Iowa State's winningest season ever. The project is due for release in 2025.
Lucas Krieg
BEC-TV - Bloomington Jefferson High School
2025 Student AV All Stars - High School Recipient
Lucas Krieg cut his TV teeth in Middle School. He’s be volunteering for SEVEN school years with BEC-TV. Now a Bloomington Jefferson senior Lucas Krieg has been a part of more 200 productions. All of these have been after school on his own time.
Lucas has been in productions at every high school, middle school, stadium and ice rink in Bloomington as well as teamed with BEC-TV at several pro-level venues in the Twin Cities. Nearly all of these productions have been live-to-air with between 3 and 7 cameras, 4 channels of replay, full graphics, and more. Most productions require full setup and strike.
In his roles as student producer he’s been in charge of pre-production planning, the live production and the whole crew. After each production, he leads a “Post Mortem” with the crew to discuss what went right, what went wrong, and how to up their game for the next one.
Alex Schaefer
St. Cloud Tech High School
2025 Student AV All Stars - High School Recipient
Alex Schaefer is a Junior at St. Cloud Tech High School. Alex has consistently gone above and beyond his role with both the Tech Morning Show and C201 Productions, taking these projects to new heights over the past three years. His technical expertise is unparalleled—he has mastered every aspect of the school’s studio operations.
Alex's deep understanding of how the entire studio networked system functions ensures that each production runs smoothly. Alex also self-taught himself to operate a drone, enabling the school to incorporate drone footage into this year’s productions, adding a fresh and professional dimension to the school's content.
His commitment to training and mentoring others has created a culture of collaboration and growth within the studio. Whether it's guiding newer students or stepping in to resolve technical challenges, Alex has earned the trust and admiration of both his peers and instructors. His unwavering dedication, technical expertise, and leadership make him an essential member of the production team.