2009 Vol 3 No 3

ConVal Superintendent of Schools urges support for CVCS In a letter to the Monadnock Ledger-Transcript editor, published September 1, Superintendent Richard Bergeron expressed his strong support for our initiative and for those disadvantaged students we are here to help, “… many of whom are dealing with difficult and challenging issues.” Building a greater sense of ConVal Regional Community is a key objective we share. (See copy of letter enclosed.)

 

Seventeen CVCSF Scholars so far and all  succeeding: With 2009 fall semester classes begun, we celebrate seventeen successes. Four from ConVal High School Class of 2007, six from the Class of 2008 and seven from the Class of 2009. All are doing well. Three have graduated from the associate degree or certificate programs for which they had CVCSF scholarship and monitoring support. Five are back in school following summer break and seven are starting first year students.

 

The transition from high school to college or technical training is always a big one, particularly so for some of our CVCSF scholars who half through their senior year were not certain that post-secondary education was possible for them. This is why for every CVCSF award winner a director or volunteer monitor is assigned to help them in this big step and to stay with them until they complete the program for which his or her scholarship award is given.

 

That all of those who have received our awards so far are succeeding is most gratifying since about half the students who enter college in the United States do not. And most of our CVCSF scholars start out at a relative disadvantage.

 

Top CVCSF scholar story of the summer: Priscilla Coffill, whose graduation from the NHTI nursing and registration as a nurse was announced in our June 30 newsletter started in her job as a nurse at Monadnock Community Hospital on July 13. Hers is a true community success story of the combined support of ConVal High School, Monadnock Community Hospital and the ConVal Community Scholarship Foundation.

ConVal Class of 2009 We reported in our June 30 newsletter on our top three winners from the ConVal High School Class of 2009. These are Samantha Mannion, Peterborough, CVCSF NHBB HiTech scholar (UNH, Marine Biology, Durham, NH); Kathleen Taber , Bennington. (Pasco-Hernando Community College, FL, Early Childhood Education); and Patrick Morn, Peterborough (Univ. of West Virginia, Engineering.) Smaller awards were given to: Carol Busch, Bennington (NHTI, Concord, Child Care); Megan Clemens, Peterborough (Fitchburg State College, Media Photography); Anettcy Solis, Francestown (Nashua Community College, Nursing Associate); and Lisa Taylor, Francestown (Nashua Community College, Nashua, NH, Criminal Justice). We will report more on our seven 2009 grantees in our December 31 issue.

 

No unemployment for our graduates: In addition to Priscilla’s job at MCH, our other two graduates are doing well. Lee Corigliano is still at his auto mechanic job at PMH Auto Repair in Hillsboro. Alycia Mudrack Pellerin, Associate Degree in Criminal Justice in May, is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice and has a job in Wilton to help sustain her in her college work.

Who are the ConVal region students supported by CVCSF? What do we mean by “disadvantaged?” The CVCSF mission is “to inspire hope and confidence with community support to help more students in the ConVal region achieve their potential.”  We accomplish this mission by providing financial and mentoring assistance to “disadvantaged” students with emphasis on serving those who will benefit most from help we can provide. “Disadvantaged” to us is any combination of circumstances, obstacles or hurdles to be cleared to assure high school graduation and a postsecondary education opportunity with reasonable likelihood of success.

The key “inspire hope and confidence” element of our mission statement is accomplished to the extent that future disadvantaged ConVal region students are inspired by the success of some of our winners to set and achieve greater goals. This is why published stories of the achievements of CVCSF winners Alycia Mudrack, Priscilla Coffill, Lee Corigliano, Diana Lavoie and others are important, as is the recently published CVCSF endorsement by Superintendent Richard Bergeron.  

2009 monitors: Each year we become more aware of the importance of having one of our directors or volunteers assigned to monitor the transition of our award winners from ConVal High School to their chosen postsecondary institutions. Some who have been chosen for CVSF awards - so far one each year – have been unable to get their acts together to register for classes and get to school to claim their awards. Some do not need special guidance or assistance, but others would not make the transition without the assistance our monitors can provide. The monitoring process begins on awards day, starting with a briefing on essential next steps immediately following the awards ceremony. It continues through graduation of our winners from the programs for which our assistance is given and in career tracking after that.

 

Monitors of our top three 2009 winners are Mary Lou O’Neil (CVCSF Director) for Samantha Mannion, Marine Biology, UNH; Robin Eichert (Volunteer) for Kathleen Taber, Early Childhood Education, Pasco Hernando Community College, FL; and Philip Grisafi, CVCSF V.P. for Patrick Morn, Engineering, West Virginia University. Samantha is the winner of the CVCSF NHBB Hi-Tech Division Scholarship, so Mary Lou O’Neil, is also our liaison with New Hampshire Ball Bearings Hi-Tech Division.

 

Financial report: CVCSFhas done well financially thus far in 2009. Given the challenges evident a year ago, we were cautious in our revenue expectations and expenditures, but increased our provision for scholarship awards. Thanks to a $10,000 grant from the Maude Corser Family Fund, $5,000 from the Gilbert Verney Foundation and a $1,500 contribution from the Peterborough Rotary Club, partnership contributions from New Hampshire Ball Bearings, the Peterborough Lions Club and the Monadnock Rotary Club and individual contributions, we are confident that we will reach our 2009 $40,000 goal. Collection jars, now in twenty four locations (the newest at Mr. Mikes and in the Peterborough Diner) are doing better than expected with almost $2,000.  raised this year through September  No big bequests yet to enhance our sustainability, but we believe they will come as we continue to demonstrate that they are deserved. We have started a quasi-endowment fund to which we are prepared to match up to $50,000 in new contributions. (contact jfvance [at] comcast [dot] net )

 

Organization plans and changes: Rob Rubendall stepped down as CVCSF Vice P  resident at our Board of Directors meeting on September 16. He will continue as a member of the Board while he must explore other career opportunities because of Boston University’s decision to close down its Sargent Center programs this month. Philip Grisafi was elected to succeed him as Vice President, also effective September 16. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the Greater Peterborough Chamber of Commerce, as Treasurer of the Peterborough Players and the Monadnock Rotary Club and on the finance committee of the Union Congregational Church in Peterborough. Help Wanted to assist in 1) tracking award winners and 2) directing our public information program.