Mercer County Educational Service Center
Receives Additional “Drive to Succeed” Funding to
Continue Scholarships for Driver’s Education
Round 2 eligibility expanded to include interested students over age 18

Celina, Ohio – The Mercer County Educational Service Center (ESC) has been awarded an additional $24,750 in Drive to Succeed funding from the Ohio Traffic Safety Office (OTSO). This second round award will allow the ESC to continue to provide scholarships for students to assist with the cost of Driver's Education classes. 

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine launched the scholarship program in 2022 to support teenage drivers whose families could benefit from assistance with driver training costs. In July of 2023, the ESC was awarded $10,000 as part of this initial launch, and through just Year 1, has awarded 25 scholarships totaling just over $8,500. Recipients from Round 1 have included students from Celina City Schools, Coldwater Exempted Village Schools, Fort Recovery Local Schools, Minster Local Schools, Parkway Local Schools, St. Henry Local Schools and St. Marys City Schools. 

McKenna Hall, a Parkway student and scholarship recipient, commented that the award enabled her to maintain her part-time job, and to increase her work hours even while going to more school events.

“Overall it was very helpful and I wouldn’t have been able to have my license yet if it wasn’t for this program!” Hall states.

All ESC-aligned and partially-aligned districts are encouraged to have their eligible students apply. To be eligible to participate, a student must be referred by a school staff member (parents and students can not self-refer), qualify for Free/Reduced Lunch, have no more than 3 absences from school in one semester, and must write a personal statement (3-5 sentences) to explain their financial need. A parent or guardian must also sign the student application and acknowledge the financial need.

And, new for Round 2, students no longer need to be under 18 at the time of the application. If a student qualifies financially and would like to enroll in driver’s training, they can now apply as adult-aged students. 

Once all eligibility criteria are verified, the ESC will connect the student to a partnering driving school, and will pay the driving school directly for the scholarship recipients. ESC partner driving schools, identified in the grant application, are Capabilities (St. Marys), Driving School by Mel (Celina) and St. Henry Driving School. 

Awarded students are required to pay a $25 cost-sharing deposit, which will be returned to the student upon completion of driver’s education. In addition, students are required to participate in follow-up surveys from OTSO, to help the department track the effectiveness of the program, identify additional barriers and assess the extent to which the scholarship results in real-life, positive impact for the youth driver recipients.

The second round of the funding awarded to the ESC for this purpose is now available, and the ESC will again have two years to award the scholarships. Interested high school students should contact their school counselor in order to verify eligibility. For questions about the grant program, please contact Sandi Holdheide, ESC Workforce & Career Navigator, at sandi.holdheide@mercercountyesc.org or 419-586-6628.