While The College Board was busy creating an “adversity score” to allocate to every student, The College Sage was busy doing good in our community – actually helping students to apply to college, to complete their FAFSA forms to earn financial aid, to apply for community and national scholarships, to build resumes, and to look for interesting summer opportunities. And over the past week, The College Sage has been attending awards ceremonies and surprising well-deserving graduating seniors with no-application scholarships! That’s right – this week we handed out $3000 of cash, renewed a $3000 scholarship so last year’s recipient could continue into his second year at Clemson, and orchestrated $1300 of dorm room packages from another generous donor, The Freshman Fifteen, for two well-deserving Charleston students.
For those of us who work and volunteer in lower socio-demographic schools, we see the need for extra resources. It’s going to take more than an “adversity score” to help deserving students get to college. What does help a student with limited resources to navigate the process and make their way to college are two things: a little extra TLC and money. At The College Sage, that’s what we provide. In partnership with Communities in Schools, The College Sage held over 200 individual student meetings with 75 students at Burke High School and North Charleston High School during the most recent academic year. Across the country, Communities in Schools is a powerful organization that works directly in schools, building relationships that empower students to succeed inside and outside the classroom. With their assistance in identifying students who require some extra resources in creating college bound plans, The College Sage is there, in the schools, to offer extra time, resources, and insights.
We have the pleasure of announcing that The College Sage It’s Cool to Go to your Dream School $1,500 scholarships were awarded this year to:
· Paris Portee of North Charleston High School. Paris will attend Claflin University next year.
· Dakota Middleton of Burke High School. Dakota will attend the University of South Carolina next year.
Both students diligently studied their college options, applied for scholarships while balancing their senior year curriculum, and excelled within their high schools. We are so proud to contribute towards their dream college experiences!
At The College Sage we believe what we need are more people advocating for students and less people making the admissions world even crazier. Want to really help a student in need? Contact www.thecollegesage.com or get involved or donate to worthwhile organizations like Communities in Schools at https://www.communitiesinschools.org/how-you-can-help/ or The Freshman Fifteen at https://www.thefreshmanfifteen.org/donate .
