A colleague sent this to me a few weeks ago and I wanted to share with as many people as possible. Please consider writing a letter to a kid. It's a really great idea and a meaningful way to get involved.
The Detroit College Promise
The Detroit College Promise provides scholarships to Detroit Public School students, modeled on the Kalamazoo Promise. This year, we are offering scholarships to all graduates at Cody and Douglas High Schools, with a limited number of scholarships at Cass Tech, Central, Pershing and Trombly. Next year, we will offer scholarships to all DPS high school students who meet our simple eligibility criteria. Students apply for our scholarship in the 9th grade by filling out a one-page form. We then give them a scholarship certificate to encourage them to make a commitment to work hard and graduate so that they can go to college. Via our monthly newsletter, we inform students and parents / designated adults about our scholarship, other scholarships, academic support programs, college readiness activities and financial aid. We help students find the information and assistance they need by providing a school liaison and by coordinating with other organizations in the high schools. We provide incentives for good ACT scores, and allow students up to 10 years after they graduate to use our scholarship.
Won't you please take 15 minutes to write a letter of encouragement to a 9th grade Detroit Public School student who is making a commitment to work hard, graduate from high school and go to college?
We need to show these students where they can be in ten years if they go to college. We need you to share your story with them. We need you to tell them how you overcame your own difficulties and challenges to succeed. We need you to tell them what your life is like now, because you went to college. We need you to give them a vision of tomorrow that living in their world - a world of crisis - does not provide. We need you to say, "It can be done! I came from similar circumstances and I did it!" We need you to tell them - "All that hard work really paid off!" We need you to say, "Believe in yourself! Make it happen! Yes, you can! The kind of life you will have depends on it!"
Please believe, and act on the positive! Please write a letter that we can give to a high school freshman when we present them with their scholarship certificate at the end of April.
Maybe they won't read it; maybe it will be discarded. But just maybe, your letter will be kept in a special place, and read over and over again, when things get really tough. Maybe your letter will change a young person's life.
Perhaps 20 years from now, when that individual is accepting an award for an innovation or achievement, they will refer to your letter and say, "I don't know the person who wrote this letter, but their words kept me going and helped me get to where I am today."
Imagine how much of an impact 15 minutes of your time could make.
Please make copies of this request and pass them to your friends, co-workers, and associates. We need 500 letters and are counting on you!
Thank you for your words of encouragement!
Nat Pernick, M.D.
Executive Director
The Detroit College Promise
www.DetroitCollegePromise.org
Send letters to:
The Detroit College Promise
30100 Telegraph Road, Suite 408
Bingham Farms, MI 48025
Telephone: 248/646-3269
FAX: 248/646-3119
Email: DetroitCollegePromise@gmail.com
For additional information, please visit www.DetroitCollegePromise.org.
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