Bright Futures Presentation

2022 Financial Aid Updates

Bright Futures hours update for grades 9-11 (Profferfish!)  The district has switched to a virtual program, Profferfish, where you will submit proposals and hours for the Bright Futures scholarship.  This can be accessed through your Clever account—look for the Profferfish icon.  All proposals and hours must be submitted on this website moving forward.  See attached for a quick start guide and flow chart for how to use this new resource.

 

 

 

Bright Futures Volunteer Service/Paid Work

·         

To be eligible to receive one of the Florida Bright Futures Scholarship Awards, students must complete either volunteer service hours or paid work hours.  They will use the program Profferfish to submit proposals, work/volunteer site information, get approval, and submit hours and reflections.  Profferfish can be accessed through a student’s Clever account by clicking the Profferfish icon.

 

Volunteer Service Hours Needed:

Florida Academic Scholarship - 100 hours
Florida Medallion Scholarship - 75 hours 
Gold Seal CAPE - 30 hours
Gold Seal Vocational - 30 hours

 

Paid Work Hours Needed: 

Florida Academic Scholarship - 100 hours
Florida Medallion Scholarship - 100 hours
Gold Seal CAPE - 100 hours
Gold Seal Vocational - 100 hours

 

Steps to Follow

1. Log into Profferfish through Clever.

2.  Discover volunteer and work organizations and opportunities by clicking pre-approved volunteer and business organizations.  If your organization/business that you work for/volunteer with is not listed here, you will need to submit it for approval

3. To submit a new organization or opportunity click Submit a NEW organization or Opportunity.  Fill out the information and wait for approval from your school counselor.
4. Go to My Florida Bright Futures Plan and complete this outlining your volunteer and/or work goals
5.  Enter Agency Signature, Student Signature and reflections.
6.  Add a parent/guardian signature and submit for approval to your school counselor.

 

What hours cannot count? 

               SERVICE HOURS

1. Court mandated community service.Service hours where a family member is verifying the completed hours.
2. An activity where there is no responsible adult on site to evaluate and confirm student performance.
3. Donations, such as Locks of Love or giving blood.
4. Participation on a sports team or a performance of any kind unless participation is considered an act of service.

 

              WORK HOURS

1. Work hours where a family member is verifying the completed hours.

 

For more information on Bright Futures and to see approved organizations in the past go to Pinellas County Schools Bright Futures webpage:  https://www.pcsb.org/Page/3554

For more information on how to use Profferfish, including quick start guides and videos, please visit this webpage:  https://www.pcsb.org/Page/40036

 

To Apply for Florida Bright Futures

Students must go to www.FloridaStudentFinancialAid.org after October 1st of their senior year in high school to apply for the Florida Bright Futures Scholarship. This is done by completing the  "Initial State Student Application" and submitting it on-line after printing out a copy for their own records. The application process closes on the date of high school graduation.

Quick Note: At the completion of the initial application, students should write down and keep their Bright Futures user ID and pin to track their award status.

The Florida Bright Futures Scholarship Program

Florida Bright Futures (FBF) is the umbrella program administered by the Florida Department of Education (DOE) which includes Florida Academic Scholars, the Florida Medallion Scholars, and the Florida Gold Seal Vocational Scholars.

The links above will take you to the Florida Department of Education Bright Futures Scholarship Program. Here you will find the latest information about the FBF scholarships offered as their pages are updated regularly by the Florida Department of Education.

 How FBF Calculates and Weighs your GPA

Please be advised that the grade point average as shown on the high school student's report card, graduation check list and transcript may be different than the student's Florida Bright Futures GPA. Florida Bright Futures software uses a different method for calculating the weighting of the courses required to meet each of the Bright Futures scholarship criteria.