Pool Professionals

Rey Perales Memorial Scholarship Fund

Application & Instructions

Rey Perales Scholarship Fund Badge
It is the purpose of the scholarship fund to provide annual college scholarships to the children of NPC Members and their employees. The dollar amounts of the scholarships and number granted will be determined by the Scholarship Committee annually, based on the available funds. The range of dollar amounts will be a minimum of $500.00 to a maximum of $5,000.00. Scholarships will be announced in January of each year and will be awarded at the NPC Conference the following February.

For more information or clarification regarding these rules and instructions, please contact the National Plasterers Council at (847) 416-7271 or email us at mail@npconline.org.

Your 2025 Checklist

  • VSponsorship secured from Member Company
  • VRequest 1st Letter of Recommendation
  • VRequest 2nd Letter of Recommendation
  • VComplete Application
  • VComplete Research Essay or Recorded PowerPoint Presentation
  • VSubmit Application and all documents by close of business, December 31, 2025

Eligibility Criterias

LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION

All applicants must furnish two (2) letters of recommendation. Letters should address the student’s scholastic ability, character and worthiness to receive a merit award. Letters should be from the following: a professor or teacher, an employer, or an .Advisor from a volunteer or extracurricular activity.

Letters should be sent directly to the National Plasterers Council by the author or, if submitted by the student, in a sealed envelope signed by the author over the seal. All letters must be received by December 31, 2025, or the application is considered incomplete and will not be reviewed by the selection committee.

Application and Deadline

All applications and other required materials, including Research Essay, must be received at the National Plasterers Council by the close of business on December 31, 2025 in order to be considered for the upcoming academic year. Applicants who are chosen to receive a scholarship will be notified no later than February 1, 2026. One application per applicant is allowed.

Researched Essay or Recorded
PowerPoint Presentation Requirements

A researched Essay Paper or recorded PowerPoint presentation in English answering one of the following questions must be submitted in Modern Language Association (MLA) Format. The paper must be at least 1000 words and no more than 1500 words, or recorded PowerPoint 5 – 7 minutes in length. A bibliography (work cited page) must be included but is not included in the overall word count of the paper. Plagiarism is not allowed and is reason for disqualification.

  1. The pool plaster industry utilizes (depends on) immigrant labor in many areas, as do most of the trades.  Has the enforcement of immigration law affected the industry and if so, what solution would you propose to allow for immigrant labor while satisfying the law?
  2. Explore how an NPC applicator member might network in their local market to grow their book of business and co-market to available project opportunities with partner companies.

Disclaimer: Using ChatGPT or other AI-generated sources in your NPC submission without proper citation may be considered plagiarism. Rephrasing and incorporating ideas from other authors into your own writing without citing sources is regarded as plagiarism in academia, and this applies to AI-generated content as well.