If you live in the Manheim Central School District and you plan to pursue higher education in the medical field, Northwest EMS has a scholarship for you. The Robert C. Stirling Memorial Scholarship is offered annually to high school seniors or adults, said Lori Shenk, community outreach manager for Northwest EMS. The deadline for applying is Friday, March 17.

The scholarship is named for Stirling, who volunteered with Manheim Veterans Ambulance Association for more than 30 years. The owner of an insurance business, Stirling was very active in community and civic groups. In the early 1960s, he assisted a volunteer ambulance crew at the scene of a car accident outside his home on East High Street. One of the ambulance association's founding members, Clarence "Mike" Graham, was on-site that day, and he asked Stirling to ride along and assist with the transport of the patient. That incident led to Stirling's three-decade involvement as a volunteer with the association. When he passed away in 1994, his family and the ambulance association created a scholarship in Stirling's name. Since Northwest EMS merged with the ambulance association in 2013, Northwest has continued to offer the scholarship with the same criteria originally envisioned by the Stirling family and the ambulance association.

"We give away at least one $1,000 scholarship each year, but we may give up to two," Shenk remarked. She noted that she typically gets anywhere from 10 to 20 applications for the scholarship. Applicants must be accepted into a post-high school education program at a college, tech or trade school. Such programs include nursing, radiology technician and traditional college with a major in a health care-related field. The scholarship is awarded in the spring and is paid directly to the winner's school in time for the fall semester.

A committee reviews the applications and chooses the winner or winners based on criteria such as the content of the written portion of the application, transcripts, personal references and financial need. "It's a simple application with two short essays," Shenk noted. "It does not take long to complete." She emphasized that for the best chances of being chosen, applicants should clearly follow all directions in the application packet.

Applications are available at Manheim Central High School. They can also be obtained by emailing Shenk at lshenk@nwems86.org or stopping by Northwest EMS, 60 W. Colebrook St., Manheim.