DOWAGIAC — In a meeting room at ACTION Ministries, 301 Main St., Dowagiac, a group of members from the Dowagiac Fine Arts Boosters worked this week to plan opportunities that will benefit students who participate in the arts.

At a meeting hosted at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, organizers discussed plans for the upcoming year, including fundraising efforts and scholarship opportunities available to seniors and students involved in the arts.

The booster club, which was formed in September 2009, supports all fine arts in the Dowagiac school system, including everything from choir to dancing to band. The club prioritizes being inclusive of all ages and has parents, guardians, teachers, alumni and students involved, according to organizers.

On Thursday, applications for the Fine Arts Boosters Rebecca Lynn Walker Scholarship will become available in Dowagiac High School’s guidance office for Dowagiac Union High School seniors.

The scholarship will be awarded to a Dowagiac senior who has completed a minimum of one hour per year of volunteering with the boosters or has sold five rubber ducks a year. Rubber ducks are sold every year as part of a raffle ticket fundraiser. The senior will also have been part of an art program of some sort. The student will need a letter of recommendation from an art teacher and have to write a 500-word essay about how the arts have affected them, as well as the Fine Arts Boosters and how the scholarship will help the student’s future.

The scholarship is awarded in honor of Rebecca Walker. Walker, who was active in the arts at DUHS, succumbed to injuries sustained in a winter traffic accident in 2013.

Scholarships for students to attend Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp will also become available on Thursday in the fine arts classrooms.

Blue Lakes Fine Art Camp is a summer school of the arts located in west Michigan. Each year, the camp program serves more than 5,400 students in music, dance, art and drama, according to its website.

“Blue Lakes Fine Art Camp is a really good two-week camp that you go to,” said treasurer Allyson Hatter. “There’s no technology, and it’s all arts. They give a scholarship, and then if you apply, we will give you a scholarship if you win.”

In the past, Dowagiac students have received scholarships from Blue Lake itself, but only in one area of the arts. Each art is a different amount for tuition.

“That’s where we come in handy. We give a scholarship that is usually $150,” Hatter said. “We give that out, and so it helps because it can be a $1,200 camp. It’s all working with professionals.”

Scholarships from the Dowagiac Fine Arts Boosters have been offered by the group since 2012. Each year, the group works to give out at least three scholarships, one for college education, one to attend Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp and an outgoing senior scholarship.

“Last year, we ended up giving out four,” said Hatter, who was a recipient of the Fine Arts Boosters outgoing senior scholarship. Former Miss Dowagiac Juliana Stanger was the other recipient of the award.

The funds are raised through events like selling rubber ducks, the Fine Arts Boosters’ Talent Show, hot chocolate sales during the Dowagiac Candle-Light Christmas Parade and selling baked goods at spring sporting events.

Scholarships applications will be due on April 24.

At Fine Arts Night, which will be hosted on Friday, May 1, students are awarded their scholarships and hundreds of students will have their artwork exhibited as choirs and bands host performances for their family and friends. Exhibits will be open at 6 p.m., and music programs will kick off performances at 7 p.m.