Jackson State University has been announced as a finalist in The Home Depot’s 2015 RETOOL YOUR SCHOOL Campus Improvement Grant Program and has a shot at winning the top prize for its division, if enough votes are recorded.
Voting closes Friday, April 20. Jackson State supporters can visit www.retoolyourschool.com to vote.
Supporters can also capture votes by using #Jacksonstate_RYS15 on their social media. Each use of the hashtag counts as one social media vote, according to Teresa Holmes at UniWorld Group.
This year, the Retool Your School Grant Program will award a total of $255,000 in grants to nine accredited HBCUs in $50,000, $25,000 and $10,000 grant denominations. Based on student enrollment, schools are categorized into one of three clusters — schools with 4,000 students or more, schools with between 3,999 and 1,201 students, or schools with less than 1,200 students.
Following the online voting, a panel of judges will also evaluate each school’s project proposals within the qualifying clusters. At JSU the money will be used for sprucing up the campus, including landscaping, painting and gardening, according to Arron Richardson, JSU’s coordinator of Intramural Programming and Special Events.
Jackson State faces stiff competition from finalist schools in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, US Virgin Islands, and the District of Columbia.
Therefore, JSU alumni, friends and family should log on and vote at www.retoolyourschool.com to ensure that the Tigers bring home the grand prize.
Please remember every ‘Tweet, Instagram and Facebook post received featuring #Jacksonstate_RYS15 will act as social media activity. This activity counts toward JSU’s social media activity for final judging.