North Minneapolis barber offers $1K in scholarship awards

College-bound Northsiders should apply by Aug. 6

North Minneapolis barbershop owner Teto Wilson has made it his business to give a helping hand to aspiring college students. This week, he announced the first annual Wilson’s Image College Scholarship award to be given to two North Minneapolis-based African American students headed to college this fall.

Named after his barbershop, Wilson is funding the scholarship with his own money and will provide $500 each to one young man and one young woman. “It seemed to me, watching my daughter go through the scholarship application process, [that] there are a lot of African Americans — especially in the inner city — that need money for food, tuition [and] books,” Wilson told the MSR. “I wanted to help.”

The application process is fairly simple. Students must submit their full name, telephone number, email address, and the name of the college they plan on attending, along with a 500- to 1000-word essay.

“The essay should explain how you plan to use your degree to positively impact North Minneapolis communities.,” explained Wilson. “How are you going to use your degree and the knowledge you obtain over the next four years to make a positive impact on North Minneapolis? Do you understand the housing, job situations, transportation [and] violence in the community? What is your take on them? How can you address some of these issues that we have?”

Even if students don’t plan on immediately returning to the North Side, Wilson said, “We still want to see that you understand social ills in our community and what you could possibly do about them.”

Wilson said six finalists will be selected to attend an awards ceremony. While only two will be awarded scholarships, his goal is to offer a prize to all six student scholars. “It may not be money. It may be school supplies, but we want to make sure we offer them something. And, we want for the community to come in and celebrate the scholars.”

The awards ceremony will take place August 19, 3-5 pm at Wilson’s Image Barbershop located at 2124 ½ West Broadway in Minneapolis. The event is free and open to the public.

Eligible applicants must be North Minneapolis residents entering into their freshman year of college in Fall 2018. Students must also be able to demonstrate a 2.5 GPA and provide an acceptance letter along with the class schedule, if possible.

Applications are being accepted now via email at wilsonsimage@gmail.com. The application deadline is August 6, 2018, at 5 pm.