A fast-closing window of opportunity on a $10,000 grant is open to certain Walker County residents looking to take their GED exams.

Residents between the ages of 14 and 24 may be eligible for a scholarship to help cover the cost of the General Equivalency Diploma exams. Awards of $19 per each of the five sections of the exam may be granted. The GED exam is made up of individual sections testing writing, math, science, social studies and reading. Applicants need not be taking the exam in its entirety in order to qualify.

The funds are being made possible by a $10,000 Certified Work Ready re-certification grant gifted through the Governor’s Office of Workforce Development. Most of the money, $95,000 in total, is being set aside for GED exam scholarships; the other $500 will be used to purchase GED study guides to place in the public libraries in LaFayette, Chickamauga, and Rossville, as well as in the LaFayette office of the Georgia Department of Labor.

To be eligible for the scholarship, applicants must be between the ages of 18 and 24 and be seeking to take the GED test by March 23, 2012. All applicants must submit both a 100-word essay detailing his or her specific economic or financial need and one letter of recommendation from an instructor or teacher, employer or community member. No letters of recommendation will be accepted from members of the applicant’s family.

The application deadline is March 9, 2012. Prospective test-takers are urged to petition for letters of recommendation and submit their applications as soon as possible.

Funds for the scholarships will expire on March 23, 2012. Any GED test taken after that time will not be eligible for Walker County Certified Work Ready scholarship funds. Scholarships will be awarded up to that date or until funds are exhausted.

Applications may be downloaded at www.walkercochamber.com or picked up at either the LaFayette office of the Georgia Department of Labor or the Georgia Northwestern Technical College Rock Spring Campus, GED testing office in Building 100, Room 124.

For more information on the scholarships, call Walker County Certified Work Ready team leader Catherine Edgemon at (706) 639-1519.