DALLAS — The American Fire Sprinkler Association recently gave $2,000 scholarships to ten randomly selected high school seniors that plan to attend college or trade school, helping them pursue higher education.

Students signed up for a chance to win a scholarship through AFSA’s online scholarship contest, which was designed in 1996 to promote interest in the fire sprinkler industry. The AFSA scholarship contest has sought to promote its scholarship outside of the fire sprinkler industry in the hopes of reaching students who may otherwise not recognize the importance of automatic fire protection.

More than 23,300 students entered the program to receive a one-time $2,000 AFSA scholarship. This scholarship program awards 10 $2,000 prizes annually.

To be eligible, applicants must be a current high school senior, planning to attend a U.S. college, university or trade school in the upcoming fall. Applicants are required to read a passage about fire sprinklers, describing their history, operation and types of careers that are available in the industry. Applicants also take a ten-question reading comprehension test. For each question answered correctly, the student receives one entry into a drawing for one of 10 $2,000 scholarships. A total of 10 entries per applicant for the drawing is possible. The AFSA Scholarship is open to U.S. citizens and legal residents. The 2010 contest will begin August 2009.

Michael Barrett, Orlando, Fla.; Matt Cassidy, Fostoria, Ohio; Alexander Chism, Petaluma, Calif.; Sonnett Davies, Spanish Fork, Utah; Coreen Donaldson, Riverside, Calif.; Kiera Edwards, Menifee, Calif.; Jessica Garcia, San Bernardino, Calif.; Angela Imbesi, Mesa, Ariz.; Erica Kaczmarczyk, Mahanoy City, Pa.; and Ashton Warner, Kailua, Hawaii, are the scholarship recipients this year.

Additional information is available at: http://www.afsascholarship.org/index.htm.