History
Background
In the American public education system every child (in theory, at least) has the opportunity to excel in learning at public expense. Unfortunately there is too little attention paid to taking advantage of the educational resources that are available to compete (as a nation or individually) in the global economy. For the generation of Americans born in the depths of the depression and who fought in World War II, the G.I. Bill made college education affordable, and the number of Americans in post-secondary education multiplied. This generation, born in hard times, saw education, especially in science and technology, as the way out of poverty.
Korea, India, China and other nation’s learned from our example, sending thousands of their young people to universities in the United States in the late 1960’s and 1970’s especially in the fields of mathematics, science, and management. At the same time they raised standards of education in their own countries to prepare millions of young people to attend new universities they were building. By the late 1980’s and 1990’s they were graduating many more scientists and engineers than United States. While they were greatly increasing their capacity to develop low cost workers to compete for jobs in the global economy, the United States fell behind. In the words of Craig Barrett, retired Intel CEO, we have institutionalized low expectations in our society while the Indians, Chinese, Koreans and others have raised theirs. In a study in Time Magazine, April 27, 2009, we ranked 25th in a field of thirty some, following the Slovak Republic, Hungary and Luxembourg in education in mathematics. Arne Duncan, U.S. Secretary of Education, was quoted in this piece as saying, “If you think education is expensive, try ignorance!” He wrote of our great need for improvements in our education system that will raise expectations. The issue at hand is not about throwing money at our schools. It is about having the will to do better. If we do not aspire to do better, we won’t.
One consequence of low expectations is that too many of our human resources fall by the wayside, missing out on the opportunities that would have made such a great difference in their lives, if only they had seized the opportunity when it was there. Many of these disadvantaged, “at risk” high school students have great potential for success at something, but in an environment of low expectations never get a shot at a higher level of achievement. We as a nation are just starting to understand the gravity of this waste of talent after ten years of relative economic decline even and as our graduating students in mathematics and communication skills rank in the bottom quarter of measured nations.
The ConVal Community Scholarship Foundation (CVCSF) mission is “to give hope and confidence to help more students in the ConVal Region to achieve their potential.” We believe that the most important way we can achieve this is to identify disadvantaged students and give them hope, confidence, mentoring and financial assistance so they will succeed and inspire others. Today, based on the record of our scholarship winners, we know that we are succeeding and making a real difference. To date (August, 2009) we have supported a total of fifteen ConVal graduates in the Classes of 2007, 2008 and 2009. All of them were chosen on the basis of disadvantages to be overcome and demonstrated potential to succeed in post-secondary education. They are all succeeding, with three having already graduated from their chosen institutions. With their success they inspire others with disadvantages to set higher goals.
Getting Started
CVCSF started in spirit with a letter to the editor of the (then) Monadnock Ledger sent by founder John Vance and with a Monadnock Ledger editorial on that same day - December 29, 2006. The letter was titled “Institutionalized expectations causing problems.” The editorial lead was “Rededication needed; Education must become more important to all.” In ensuing months, Vance talked with ConVal region community educators and other leaders including (alphabetically) Chester Bowles, James Callahan, Sue Chollet, Robert Condon, Sue Dell, Kathryn Dodge, Barton Goodeve, Cyrus Gregg, Carl A. Johnson, Ted Leach, Walter Peterson, Rev. Adrian Robbins Cole and Rob Rubendall and decided that we would answer the challenge and form the Conval Community Scholarship Foundation.
The mission statement was established early on. With that done, how the mission could be achieved was the next step. A committee comprised of Sue Chollet, Robert Condon, Kathryn Dodge, Joseph Hayes, Peg Monahan (of Big Brothers Big Sisters) and Jason Lambert (a first year ConVal teacher) was formed to draft the basic plan. This was accomplished in one session and is still what drives the work today (see How CVCSF Works).
The plan agreed to, the next step was to register as a not-for-profit organization in New Hampshire on July 6, 2006. Officers and directors were John Vance, President; James A. Callahan, VP and Secretary; Christine Clinton, Treasurer; plus Chester Bowles, Robert Condon, Joseph Hayes, Carl A. Johnson and Adrian Robbins-Cole, Directors. Other founders were Sue Chollet, Barton Goodeve, Cyrus Gregg, Jason Lambert, Edward Leach, and Walter Peterson. This group elected to become a chapter of Dollars for Scholars, a subsidiary of Scholarship America on August 7, 2006. The decision to become a Dollars for Scholars chapter assured rapid qualification as a 501[c][3] not-for-profit and made available low cost support services, insurance, IRS and state filings, and other benefits. The first meeting of the CVCSF Board of Directors was held at RiverMead on September 28, 2006.
How CVCSF Works
CVCSF receives award applications from disadvantaged students identified by a ConVal High School committee called the Student Assistance Committee (SAT), comprised of the director of guidance, school principal, guidance counselors, school nurse and crisis manager. There is an arms length relationship between CVCSF and the SAT. The SAT nominates; CVCSF selects winners, makes the awards, and assigns monitors to observe and assist, as appropriate, until each scholarship award recipient completes the post-secondary program for which awards are granted.
A target population of approximately ten percent of the senior class is identified in the first quarter of the year as matching the criteria of disadvantaged students CVCSF was established to serve. By December, twelve to fifteen of these students are told that they have been chosen to participate in the CVCSF award program, and they are assured of a modest stipend for tuition expense, if they graduate by the following June. In the first quarter of the following calendar year, six of these (number may change from year to year) are told that their stipend will be a larger amount and that two or more of them will be eligible to receive monitoring support and a tuition grant of approximately 50% of the cost of two-year tuition at New Hampshire community colleges. (CVCSF support does not extend beyond two years.)
In May, the final candidates are chosen to be awarded the top scholarships and are honored at the Conval awards ceremony in June. At this time, monitors from CVCSF are assigned, and instructions for how to access the semester-by-semester financial support are given to the winning students. Monitors continue to track and support their students until graduation.
Relationship with ConVal High School
A spirit of shared enthusiasm and trust is essential for the CVCSF program to succeed and make a difference worthy of community support. There is an informal partnership between the Student Assistance Committee (SAT) of ConVal High School and CVCSF. The SAT receives and qualifies applications for CVCSF awards, then submits them to the CVCSF Awards Committee for consideration and eventual selection. This relationship provides CVCSF with the best possible source of qualified candidates, while giving SAT members an opportunity to find support for the candidates they consider most worthy of assistance.
The support and enthusiasm of the Conval School Board for the CVCSF program is also critical to its success in order for guidance staff and faculty to submit worthy candidates to the pool. To this end the President and founder of CVCSF made presentations to the board in December of 2006 and 2007 and has met twice with Superintendent, Dick Bergeron.