Scholarship Blogosphere

Last May, during a visit to California, Scholarship America President Cliff Stanley and California Dollars for Scholars Executive Director Ann Worley paid a visit to Downtown Magnets High School in Los Angeles. The school is one of our most dedicated Dollars for Scholars chapters; as Worley writes: "this is a magnet school on the edge of Downtown L.A., in an older office building that the district owned, that looks anything like your ideal high school. But this is a school that is doing it right with the very kids who need the most help."

And doing it right they are: the school's college counselor, Lynda McGee, will be appearing at the Los Angeles Walk for Education in a couple of weeks with a busload of student volunteers, and, thanks in large part to the focus on college preparation that Dollars for Scholars has introduced, McGee has some other great news:

"[W]e are now the number one school in test scores and attendance in district 4 (LAUSD has 6 mini-districts, since it's so big). If you disregard the tiny charter schools that handpick their kids, we're in the top ten of high schools in all of L.A. We're moving on up, and still with low income first generation kids."

Congratulations to Downtown Magnets, for their continued work in going above and beyond to help the students who need it most.

In 1984, Scholarship America's Dollars for Scholars program welcomed its fourth chapter in the state of Iowa, in the community of Parkersburg. Iowa Dollars for Scholars is now a region of more than 100 chapters, and the Parkersburg chapter (now named for the consolidated Aplington-Parkersburg school district) has helped lead the way in this expansion.

In May of 2008, Parkersburg was struck by a devastating F-5 tornado, which virtually destroyed Aplington-Parkersburg High School. Nonprofits throughout the state, including Iowa Dollars for Scholars, have worked to help the school get back on its feet—and now you can help, too, just by taking a moment to cast a vote for the school in the Henkel Helps Schools Contest.

Henkel, one of the nation's largest household-product manufacturers, has nominated ten finalists for a $25,000 prize, and Aplington-Parkersburg is one of them. The district hopes to use the prize to help with the school rebuilding efforts and to get the high school's students—many of whom have spent long hours helping with cleanup efforts despite losing homes and family members to the storm—into a new building. (This year, all high school classes are being held in the Aplington Middle School.)

This dedicated home of Dollars for Scholars was selected as one of ten finalists from over 1,500 entries; to help the school over the top, please visit HenkelHelps.com from now through October 19. All you need is a valid e-mail address to cast a vote, and you can vote once per day.

On behalf of Aplington-Parkersburg Dollars for Scholars, Iowa Dollars for Scholars and Scholarship America, thank you.

A while back, we posted about Leroy Werkhoven, who's riding his bicycle cross-country in support of Toppenish/Wapato Dollars for Scholars in Washington, his hometown chapter. You'll be happy to learn that Leroy's on the road and doing great, having just crossed into Texas and, last Saturday, ridden 84 miles in celebration of his 42nd wedding anniversary (after which he and his wife had a celebratory dinner.)

Leroy's posting daily about his amazing journey at leroypedals.blogspot.com, and is, of course, still working to reach his $100,000 donation goal. If you'd like to help out, donations can be mailed to Kit Brown, Treasurer, Toppenish-Wapato Dollars for Scholars, 241 Joyce PL., Yakima WA 98908, or made online at our secure donation site -- just make sure and select "Northwest Dollars for Scholars" in the dropdown menu, and enter "Toppenish-Wapato Dollars for Scholars" in the "In honor of" field.

Our best wishes and sincerest thanks to Leroy for this undertaking, and here's hoping for plenty of pledges and a few less tire problems.

A prank in the Cincinnati Reds locker room turned into a great day at the ballpark for South Dearborn Dollars for Scholars, a Scholarship America chapter in Indiana. The Reds Web site has the story:

"[Cincinnati] Reds pitcher Josh Fogg finally found a home for the 150,000 pennies he's been keeping in his locker since May.

"On Friday afternoon, Fogg [pictured with Sheree Craig of United Community Bank, Dr. Harley Robinson of South Dearborn Dollars for Scholars, son Koy and South Dearborn student Cory Elder] donated the $1,500 worth of pennies to South Dearborn High School's Dollars for Scholars program. Three students from South Dearborn, which is located in nearby Aurora, Ind., came to Great American Ball Park to pick up the 60 boxes, each holding $25 worth of pennies.

"The students posed for photos with Fogg and received a few autographed baseballs.

"Fogg became the rightful owner of more than 950 pounds of pennies after Ken Griffey Jr. filled Fogg's locker to the top with the boxes in May. Griffey owed Fogg $1,500, and he promised to pay him in pennies. …"

"I've been moving the boxes around my locker for months,' said Fogg. 'I kept moving them to make room for my baseball stuff.'

"Then, Fogg received a letter written by Dr. Harley Robinson from the South Dearborn Dollars for Scholars committee. …"

(Read the rest of the story here, and check out a few more pictures of the event on Flickr.)

The Bright Future Dollars for Scholars Program is one of the most unique Dollars for Scholars chapters in the Scholarship America family. The Bright Future program began in the Seattle area in 1999, as a way for high school juniors and seniors to enter professional and technical fields at area colleges while simultaneously completing high school; the program quickly partnered with John Marshall High School's Dollars for Scholars chapter, to provide financial aid for those students who were qualified for Bright Future but couldn't afford tuition.

In 2006, thanks largely to the program's success at John Marshall, the chapter's name was changed to Bright Future Dollars for Scholars, and now provides Dollars for Scholars scholarships to qualified students from all Seattle-area public high schools.

Those students include Crystal Patterson, a Marshall graduate who's now working in the University of Washington Hospital's ER and going to nursing school—thanks in large part to Bright Future Dollars for Scholars and the encouragement of her dad. KUOW Radio in Seattle spoke with Crystal, and we'll let their description introduce her story:

"Fifty hours a week, at the University of Washington Medical Center ER, Crystal Patterson is so busy that she barely has time to go to the bathroom. She's cleaning wounds, drawing blood, doing EKGs, all kinds of tasks. All the medical assistants work like crazy, of course, but 18–year–old Crystal is special in that she's been doing this for a year already while her friends finished high school. And, she's going to nursing school in the fall. And, her dad never made much more than minimum wage working as a janitor. She does think her story is significant because not everyone who comes from a low income family makes it. But she did."

You can listen to the episode of KUOW's Sound Focus that feature's Crystal's story right here. If you'd like more information about Bright Future Dollars for Scholars, you can contact our Northwest Dollars for Scholars Regional Office.

Jefferson Dollars for Scholars in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, has a long tradition of helping local students; and, after Hurricane Katrina struck, the chapter found itself on the front lines for assistance, working with Scholarship America to ensure that their scholarship recipients and all area students could continue pursuing their educational dreams in spite of the tragedy.

The chapter has done much more, too, between providing financial assistance, mentoring students for future success and receiving Scholarship America's Golden Tassel Award (recognizing outstanding Dollars for Scholars chapters) not once but twice. Now, you can find out more about Jefferson Dollars for Scholars in the video below. If you have questions or would like to get in touch with the chapter, drop us an email, and we'll pass it along.


Jefferson Dollars for Scholars from Scholarship America on Vimeo.

Fall River, Massachusetts, is the original home of Scholarship America and Dollars for Scholars; fifty years ago, local optometrist Irving Fradkin started what would become the nation's largest non-profit, private-sector scholarship organization. Last week, the city celebrated, with a luncheon featuring speeches from Dr. Fradkin, Scholarship America board chair Mim Schreck, Fall River mayor Robert Correia and Margot Tyler of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

As Dr. Fradkin pointed out: "Democracy rests on three things. Education, education, education. Once upon a time all you needed was a strong back, but now, we need to compete globally."

You can find more wise words from our founder, and high praise from fellow participants, by reading the full story in the Fall River Spirit.

The Fergus Falls (MN) Daily Journal has long been one of many newspapers in the country that actively and frequently publicizes the work of their local Dollars for Scholars chapter, including a series of columns from college freshmen who've won scholarships from Fergus Falls Dollars for Scholars. And, now, the paper is presenting some live-action media, too, on their Videos Page. Click there and scroll down to May 1 to see an interview with chapter president Dave Schneeberger about his work with Dollars for Scholars and the impact the program has on this small central Minnesota town. You can also get to the video directly by clicking here; be forewarned that it'll auto-play, so adjust those speakers before you click.

Scholarship America's President Cliff Stanley visited the Downtown Magnets High School Dollars for Scholars Chapter in Los Angeles while on a trip to California last week. As College Counselor at the high school, Lynda McGee has created an inviting and welcoming area for her college center. Her efforts at the school have been rewarded with a 98 percent college-going rate for a high school population that is primarily Hispanic and low income. The students are pictured in the front row, and in the back row from left to right is President Stanley; Ann Worley, Executive Director CA Dollars for Scholars; and Lynda McGee.

Scholarship America's Northwest Dollars for Scholars region held its Light the Fire for Education event yesterday; as the Seattle Post-Intelligencer mentions, University of Washington president Mark Emmert was honored with the 2008 Community Hero Award, thanks to his work in developing the Husky Promise scholarship program (which provides free tuition to UW for low-income students.)

We'd like to congratulate President Emmert, and Northwest Dollars for Scholars; stay tuned for a full recap of the Light the Fire event.