NILES — A few hours of tedious work paid off for three Brandywine High School seniors, who each received $10,000 and support on their upcoming college treks.

Katelyn Cooke, Kennedy Schulist and Hayley Takach were announced as winners of the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans Scholarship earlier this month. They were three of 15 Michiganders and 548 high schoolers nationally to receive the award.

The association gave out $21 million in scholarship aid in 2019. It is named after Horatio Alger, a 19th century young adult writer whose story plots centered around boys’ sudden movement from poverty to wealth thanks to good deeds that catch the eye of the rich.

The perks of the scholarship fall in line with the mission of the association, which is to support college-bound students across the country with high need.

After the Brandywine students have their financial aid information confirmed by the association, each will be able to use the $10,000 for four to five years of schooling. They will also have access to tutors, college check-ins and, if they are homeless, summer housing between semesters.

“Now I’m going to have money over four years, and that’s going to take a lot of weight off my shoulders because I’m paying for college all by myself,” Cooke said.

Schulist and Takach will also pay for school on their own.

Cooke and Schulist said the money will knock down the cost of tuition substantially as they work to become special education teachers through Ferris State University and Saginaw Valley State University, respectively. Both may take advantage of the scholarship’s summer housing support, as they are both considered homeless.

Schulist will use part of the scholarship to fund her biology degree from Lake Michigan College, then use the rest when she enrolls in Western Michigan University to receive a doctorate and become a chiropractor.

The application was more time-consuming and tricky than others, the three students said. One of their essays asked them to not only write about themselves but connect themselves to a past recipient based on short biographies.

They also had to provide tedious information and documents.

Even accepting the scholarship took time, Schulist said. First, they had to fill out their financial aid information, receive their student aid report from it, scan it, convert its file, email that file to themselves and upload it online.

Also included was a letter recommendation. All three chose their college preparation teacher, Nancy Mitchell, who provided designated class time to research colleges and apply for scholarships.

“She’s amazing,” Schulist said. “Between her and Mrs. Roeder, I don’t think I’d have any [scholarships] filled out.”

“Mrs. Roeder” is high school counselor Angie Roeder. An important — and favorite — part of her job is connecting students with scholarships.

She said millions of dollars from scholarships go unawarded each year because students either do not know about them or do not think they can win them. For the past 17 years at Brandywine, it has been her job to change those mindsets.

So, she sends out multiple-page email newsletters highlighting scholarships to students and participating staff. She also posts opportunities online and on a large board near her office.

If students have a particular skill, interest or life experience that they think would apply to niche scholarships, she helps. If they want to receive more scholarship resources, she sends them website directories.

Roeder said it is rewarding both to students and herself when applications result in success.

“This is a great payoff for them,” she said. “It’s not easy to compile all this information on top of applying to college. There’s a lot of financial aid pieces they have to do senior year, like FAFSA. Senior year is so busy.”

Cooke, Schulist and Takach said applying for scholarships is well worth the few hours of effort each requires. They each gave insights for Brandywine seniors and juniors to follow.

“Always look at Mrs. Roeder’s newsletters,” Cooke said.

“When they say to look at the board in the office, look at the board in the office,” Takach said.

“There’s one packet that has 50 scholarships, and all you have to do is apply for one link, and it applies for them all,” Schulist said.

For students outside of Brandywine, Takach gave this advice: Take advantage of the support systems in place at school. Doing so could be the difference between large loan payments and minimal debt, if at all.