CCC Gainesville | Blog
Our own Rachel Stimler is program director with The Education Foundation of Alachua County, which administers Take Stock in Children.
from Rachel:
Take Stock in Children attacks both poverty and low graduation rates by providing college scholarships to low income public school students. What’s unique about Take Stock, is that it is not just a scholarship program, it is also a mentoring program. Students are selected for Take Stock in Children when they are in 7th grade, and are paired with a volunteer mentor, with whom they meet on the school campus once a week during their lunch period. If the student maintains at least a 2.5 GPA, stays drug and crime free, maintains program behavior and attendance standards, then they are awarded a 2-year Florida Prepaid scholarship which will pay full-tuition at any State College (formerly community college) in Florida.
In the past, we have inducted around 20 new 7th grade students each year into the program, but this year we are beginning to institute some massive program growth, starting with accepting 71 students this school-year, and then 100 students per year for the next 6 years after that. We are doing that because we feel we can’t really impact drop out rates and poverty by only having a graduating class of 15-20 students per year. Students in the same peer-group as the Take Stock Students, but who are not involved in Take Stock in Children have a graduation rate of 57%. Students involved in Take Stock in Children have a graduation rate of 92%.
Learn even more at www.acpsf.org or www.takestockinchildren.orgTo sign up, call (352) 955-7003 or e-mail Rachel: stimlerre AT gm DOT sbac DOT edu.
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