Welcome, and thank you for your interest in the Stand for the Silent Scholarship Program!

In 2010, Stand for the Silent was founded when my wife Laura and I lost our son Ty. At eleven years old, Ty took his own life after being suspended from school for retaliating against a bully. Laura and I were devastated. We knew the bullying had to stop. We started reaching out to schools to share Ty’s story and educate other students, teachers, and administrators about bullying.

Ty was a young boy who loved the outdoors, enjoyed baseball, other sports, and being with his family and friends. He was a rambunctious, high-energy guy who internalized more of his being bullied than we understood. We believe his time with us was far too short and we worked hard to encourage and spread the anti-bullying message so other families will not have to endure a similar loss.

In remembrance of our son, we have established the Ty Smalley Memorial Scholarship in the amount of $5,000.

In November of 2020, tragedy struck our family again. My wife, Laura, was diagnosed with a brain aneurysm and needed surgery. Sadly, she did not survive. We at Stand for the Silent want to recognize Laura for her compassion and love of all children and her willingness to stand up for the silent by establishing the Laura Smalley Memorial Scholarship in the amount of $5,000.

Each scholarship will applaud and honor students who share Laura’s ideas and goals to fight bullying and teen suicide.

SFTS SCHOLARSHIPS
  • SFTS awarded four $5,000 scholarships this spring. This past session we awarded two Ty Smalley Memorial Scholarships and two Laura Smalley Memorial Scholarships.
  • To be eligible to apply, you must be at least a graduating high school senior or a high school graduate currently enrolled in a higher educational institution or technical school.
  • We accept a maximum of 50 entries.
STATE SCHOLARSHIPS
  • In the spring of 2024, we began offering scholarships from states that support SFTS through their local fundraising offices.
  • This past session SFTS awarded seven $2,500 state scholarships.
  • To be eligible, you must be at least a graduating high school senior and a resident of the participating state, or a high school graduate currently enrolled in a higher educational institution or technical school and a resident of the participating state.
  • The state scholarships will run concurrently with our nation-wide scholarship sessions with the same 50 maximum entries rule.
  • The number of participating states will vary from session to session, depending on which state teams decide to participate.

Check out our national winners: SFTS National Scholarship Recipients

Check out our state winners: SFTS State Scholarship Recipients