MOLINE, Ill. - Midwest Technical Institute and the mikeroweWORKS Foundation are pleased to announce submissions are now open for the third annual mrWF/MTI Scholarship Program for graduating high school seniors.

The 2015-2016 program will award seven graduating high school seniors with a 100 percent tuition-paid scholarship for any of MTI's workforce training programs. Winners will have the opportunity to select from a number of in-demand vocational courses and programs including welding, HVAC, medical assisting, dental assisting, truck driving and more.

The program, in collaboration with TV personality Mike Rowe, was established in 2013 as a partnership between MTI and the mikeroweWORKS Foundation to foster an interest in a wide range of mechanical trade and allied health careers. Each year, approximately $800,000 in scholarship funds is awarded to help high school students gain the skills and experience necessary to secure meaningful employment in today's competitive workforce and develop into industry-leading professionals.

Speaking of the program's importance, MTI's Director of High School Development Eric Gleason believes the program can play a vital part in helping today's high school students realize their future without the expense of a traditional college degree.

"Student loan debt can follow you for many years and this scholarship opportunity allows you to graduate debt free," Gleason said. "For example, as a college graduate, I still owe $4,000 and I am 36 years-old."

To be eligible, students must be graduating seniors during the 2015-2016 academic year and submit a brief essay and video detailing why they should be selected as a scholarship winner. Submitted videos will be uploaded to MTI's website for a period of public voting where the video with the greatest number of votes will be declared the winner.

Submissions open Sept. 14, 2015 and be accepted through March 25, 2016. Public voting on student videos will run from April 1, 2016, to May 1, 2016, and winners will be announced on or about May 6, 2016.

MOLINE, Ill. - Students from the cosmetology program at Midwest Technical Institute's Moline campus location will host the first ever runway show open to the public at noon June 24 at the MTI campus, 3620 Avenue of the Cities.

The show will exclusively feature students from the school's cosmetology program in an effort to highlight their work and the available services at the school's Student Salon. Doors will open at 11:30 a.m. and there is no cost to attend.

In addition, the show will feature complimentary refreshments and all attendees will receive a coupon good for 50 percent off of hair, nail and skin services at the school's Student Salon.

The first annual public runway show will feature several themes with corresponding hairstyles. MTI Instructor of Cosmetology Amy Pettifer says the idea to make this year's runway show public was something of a no-brainer given how enthusiastic students have been about the private shows in previous years. "We are hoping the students will be able to graduate MTI with the self-confidence that if they can do a small runway show here at MTI, they will be able to do larger more intense shows here ever their careers may take them," said Pettifer, who's been with MTI since October of last year.

But Pettifer also feels events like the upcoming show are a crucial part of a student's training. MTI's cosmetology students engage in a rigorous curriculum of classroom learning, but they also work in the Moline Student Salon to gain the real-world experience necessary to enter the cosmetology field upon graduation."You wouldn't think it but there is so much book work that goes along with cosmetology," explained Pettifer, who's already optimistic about the prospect of upcoming runway shows. "This runway show will be our first one open to the public, but we hope to have many more with each one getting bigger and bigger each time," said Pettifer.

MTI's cosmetology program offers students an accelerated training program, small classes, financial aid opportunities and more. For more information about the runway show or program, contact Campus Director Mary Link at (309) 277-7900. For more information about the Moline Student Salon, call (309) 277-7940. Interview opportunities and other media requests should be directed to MTI's Director of Marketing Stacey Wierman at (217) 527-8324, ext. 1178.

About Midwest Technical Institute

Midwest Technical Institute offers hands-on training in a number of mechanical trade and allied health career fields to help students succeed as a member of today's rapidly-changing workforce. MTI, along with its sister school, Delta Technical College, operates seven campuses across the Midwest and Mississippi Delta regions. For more information, visit www.midwesttech.edu.

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MOLINE, Ill. - Midwest Technical Institute is proud to announce seven Moline-area high school students as the winners of the 2014-2015 mrWF/MTI Scholarship Program.

This year's winners were determined by a public voting campaign via Facebook and include Jeff Farny, of Sterling High School; Colin Jones, of Mercer County High School; Daniel Reed, of Rock Island High School; Andrew Fitz, of Moline High School; Jace Jennings, of Kewanee High School; Madalyn Brown, of Moline High School; Logan Wheeler, of Louisa Muscatine High School.

Winners of this year's scholarship program will receive a 100 percent tuition-paid scholarship for any of MTI's courses and programs, including those in welding, HVAC, medical assisting, dental assisting, medical coding, CDL and others.

Founded in 2013 as a collaboration between MTI and Mike Rowe - best known as the host of the reality show 'Dirty Jobs' and CNN's 'Somebody's Gotta Do It' - the program is committed to assisting today's high school students in receiving the hands-on, workforce training necessary to help close the nationwide skills gap in a number of skilled-labor industries.

To be eligible for the program, students submitted a short essay and video detailing why they deserved to win one of this year's scholarships. Submitted videos were then subject to a period of public voting via MTI's Facebook profiles where the videos with the most votes were selected as winners.

MTI's Director of High School Development Eric Gleason believes the scholarship program offers winners more than just a free, skills-based education.

"The Mike Rowe scholarship gives winners a sense of accomplishment and pride, not to mention the recognition," Gleason said. "The effort these students put into this scholarship can give them the confidence to accomplish great things in their career and life."

A partnership between MTI and the mikeroweWORKS Foundation, the program awards seven students at each of MTI's five campus locations annually with a tuition-free scholarship. The program also works to promote the value of hands-on, vocational training for a number of in-demand mechanical trade, allied health and transportation industries.

For more information on MTI or the scholarship program, contact MTI Director of Marketing Stacey Wierman at (309) 427-2750, extension 1228, or via email at swierman@midwesttech.edu.

About Midwest Technical Institute