Throughout the past decade the Dollars for Scholars program in South Portland has given out thousands of dollars in scholarships to local students going on to college.
This spring, the program announced the creation of a new scholarship named in honor of the longtime local educator and former South Portland High School principal, Jeanne Crocker. The scholarship provides $250 in the first year and is renewable for three years.
Called the Jeanne Crocker Futures Award, the scholarship is available to students who have already completed one year of college and who can demonstrate academic success, leadership in community service and any unusual personal or family circumstances that show the student has overcome significant barriers.
Crocker was one of the founding members of the local Dollars for Scholars program and is still a member of the board. In addition, through the years she’s been a “generous donor,” according to Theresa Libby, the Dollars for Scholars scholarship administrator.
“To have a scholarship in my name is an honor,” Crocker said this week, “one that motivates me to redouble my efforts in support” of sending local students to college.
“I have been honored to be associated with Dollars for Scholars since its inception. Our progress has been steady and we’ve already supported many hundreds of SPHS grads attending college,” she said.
Crocker said she makes “a significant donation each year” to Dollars for Scholars and plans to continue that generosity.
“I know for certain that these extra, and largely unanticipated funds make a difference,” she said, “and that sometimes that difference means attending rather than postponing college, as well as being able to continue in years two, three and four, straight through to a college degree.
“I invite South Portland residents, SPHS grads and their families, businesses and philanthropists interested in education to join me in helping to make the dream of a college diploma a reality for every South Portland High School student.”
In a press release issued by Saco & Biddeford Savings, which last week gave $1,000 to the Crocker scholarship fund, South Portland Superintendent of Schools Ken Kunin said, “In her 28 years at SPHS, Jeanne Crocker gave of herself relentlessly on behalf of her students, staff and community. (So, it’s) fitting that an award in her name will continue to give deserving young men and women a brighter future.”
Libby said that the new Crocker scholarship “addresses the ongoing financial need after the first year of college, when many students struggle and drop out before they can complete their degree. I am proud of our South Portland community for supporting our students with this very important (fund).”
The South Portland Dollars For Scholars group is a local chapter of the national organization, Scholarship America, and last year it awarded almost $80,000 in various scholarships to local students.
Founded in late 2006 by Crocker and 12 community members, the scholarship program has awarded money to nearly 500 students totaling more than $186,000 in the past 10 years.
Ralph Cabana, another founding member of Dollars for Scholars and the group’s past president, said, “I’m thrilled that we have been so successful in a relatively few years. When I realize that we went from awarding 13 $100 scholarships to awarding 128 $500 scholarships in this period of time, the success is even more inspiring.”
Cabana said the Dollars for Scholars program was started because “with college costs and student debt spiraling (upward), we wanted to help South Portland grads be able to continue their education. (And), we knew our awards could make a difference.”
Cabana said the Dollars for Scholars bylaws specify that the scholarships are available for any post-secondary education path, including institutions such as Strive U, which offers educational and job training opportunities to teens and young adults with intellectual and emotional disabilities, trade schools and cosmetology programs, “where the $500 can have a great impact.”
Libby, the scholarship administrator, originally joined the Dollars for Scholars board because with two college-aged children, “I understood the pressure on families (for) college expenses firsthand.”
In addition, she said, “I am driven to help students and families succeed in their educational goals.”
The South Portland Dollars for Scholars program raises all its funds in the local community and applies the money it raises to the annual scholarships it gives out, as well as to an endowment fund to assist future high school graduates.
What makes the scholarship program unique, Libby said, is that it also offers renewable scholarships to students, instead of being a one-time financial gift. This helps to ensure that local students who go to college can stay and finish their degree, she said.
Like most nonprofits, Dollars for Scholars raises money in several ways, including direct donations to its website, corporate donations and grants, along with bake sales, selling graduation yard signs and restaurant fundraising nights. In addition, this spring, Dollars for Scholars will also be offering a new raffle calendar with daily prizes.
Libby said that 85 percent of South Portland High School graduates continue on with some type of post-secondary education
“A $500 scholarship makes a measurable impact,” she said.
She also said the need for scholarships, especially ongoing ones, “has never been higher (with) the average 2014 Maine college graduate carrying $30,908 in (student) loans – the sixth highest student debt load in the country.”
A closer look
Anyone wishing to make a contribution to the new Jeanne Crocker Futures Award can send donations to: Dollars for Scholars, c/o South Portland High School, 637 Highland Ave., South Portland, Maine, 04106. See www.southportlandhs.dollarsforscholars.org for more information about the South Portland Dollars for Scholars program.
Celebrating the newly created Jeanne Crocker Futures Award are, from left, Tom Major, a social Studies teacher at South Portland High School, Matt Cyr and Jenn Plourde, with Saco & Biddeford Savings, Jeanne Crocker, Ryan Caron, high school principal, Ralph Cabana, Dollars for Scholars board member, and Ken Kunin, the superintendent of schools.
Jeanne Crocker
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