LADD - North Central Bank has announced a scholarship competition that enables Illinois high school seniors to enter a statewide essay-writing contest. The competition is part of a program sponsored by Illinois community banks and the CBAI Foundation for Community Banking to increase public awareness of locally owned banks and their contributions to the community.

North Central Bank is a member of the Community Bankers Association (CBAI), which formed the Foundation in 1996. A monetary award in the amount of $1,000 a year for up to four years of a higher education will be given to the author of the best entry submitted to the CBAI Foundation by a participating Illinois high-school senior. Up to 11 additional first-place $1,000 awards and 12 second place $500 awards are available throughout the state. An additional $500 will be awarded to the high school of the overall winner.

North Central Bank is also offering monetary awards to local students. The same entries sent to the state competition will be judged locally.

North Central Bank is working with local high schools to invite seniors to write one paragraph on each of the three topics.

• The impact/importance of community banking to me or someone I know.
• The impact/importance of community banking to a business or agricultural concern in my area.
• The impact/importance of community banking to my community in general.

The entry must be one paragraph on each topic (not to exceed two pages in length), double spaced, using Times New Roman font, and 10-12-point size.

Additional information is available at North Central Bank (Hennepin and Ladd) and local high schools. For additional details, contact Kim McKee at North Central Bank (815) 894-2386 or kmckee@northcentralbank.com or www.northcentralbank.com. Entries must be submitted to the bank by Feb. 19, 2020. The bank will submit selected entries to the CBAI Foundation to be eligible for statewide competition.