Quarterly Newsletter

 Annual meeting – a Celebration at Reynolds Hall:  Our annual contributors’ reception was a double feature event. The business portion of the meeting was conducted by CVCSF Secretary, James Callahan. He greeted a good mix of close to fifty contributors, scholarship and mentoring award winners, mentors, volunteers, directors and others from ConVal High School and Superintendent, Richard Bergeron. He also welcomed special guests there to present the inaugural New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, Monadnock Region Community Leadership Award to CVCSF Founding Director, John Vance. (See more below.)

Philip Grisafi, CVCSF President, (in picture at right with Sherry Nixon, Administrative Assistant and CVCSF scholar mentor Brian Pickering, ConVal High School Principal) reported on progress  in 2010  with good success records of CVCSF Scholars in the ConVal Classes of 2007 and 2008, and on one of our star achievers in the Class of 2009. He also announced Bryan Pickering’s election to our Board of Directors. Mary Lou O’Neil, supervisor of our monitors, reported that four of our six scholarship and mentoring winners in the Class of 2010 are in school, with the other two expecting to start in January. Joe Hayes, Awards Committee Chair, reported on how the process of selecting award winners works and that his committee has begun the process of selecting twelve nominees in the Class of 2011.

Third Quarter Newsletter to our Contributors   -   September 30, 2010 

Face Challenges, Aim Higher and Achieve

Fourth Quarter Newsletter to our Contributors   -   12/31/09

Facing Challenges, Aiming Higher and Achieving

Good Results in Tough Times

2009 financial statements, due shortly, will show that ConVal Community Scholarship Foundation (CVCSF) contributions were ahead of 2008 and plan, as were scholarship awards, and year-end balance. Heartening success stories, including the July Monadnock Ledger-Transcript story on the graduation and employment at Monadnock Community Hospital of our first nursing degree graduate, Priscilla Coffill, another about the early Dean’s list success of prospective chemistry teacher, Diana Lavoie,  and one described in the enclosed Alycia Mudrack Pellerin “Achiever Card,” are examples of favorable press. And six scholarship grants ranging from $600 to $6,000 were awarded to 2009 ConVal graduates.

On the importance of Mentoring and Monitoring

We have learned much in our first three years about the importance of mentoring and monitoring. Why these two terms, “mentoring” and “monitoring”? And what is the difference between the two? We think of mentoring first as counseling and guidance provided to students in the time preceding high school graduation, best provided by trained adults, qualified and authorized to serve on school grounds via such organizations as Big Brothers Big Sisters. Mentoring thus provided, in some cases, helps prepare candidates to qualify for awards and supporting assistance CVCSF provides. Monitoring is what we call guidance and counseling, including ongoing mentoring, provided by carefully selected adult volunteers (including some CVCSF directors) from the time of high school graduation through the completion of the postsecondary education programs for which our grant awards are given. And, beyond postsecondary education, we track career performance so that we may have long term awareness of the value of our work and a measure of the return on your (and our) investment.

A critical time for most of our grantees is right at the start; the transition from high school to their chosen postsecondary program. Because most were at-risk students with little expectation that they would have this opportunity they are not all well prepared to make it. Some have little or no family support or others to turn to for advice. Most have little knowledge or experience with personal finance. Some will make mistakes which, addressed promptly, need not lead to failure. Not all will complete the programs for which their grants and monitoring assistance are given. But most do succeed, with hard work and the combination of our scholarship grants and monitoring support. Their heartwarming success stories help us achieve our mission. “to give hope and confidence with community support to help more students in the ConVal region achieve their potential.”

Samantha Mannion, ConVal Class of 2009

Samantha is the winner of our 2009 CVCSF NHBB Hi-Tech Division Scholarship Award and one of our top two Class of 2009 grants. Seen here with Donna Marcin, Human Resources Director of NHBB High-Tech Division in Peterborough, Samantha plans to earn a bachelor of science degree in marine biology at the University of New Hampshire in Durham. She tells us that Microbiology is not easy, but she loves being there and, though final first semester grades are not yet available, we are told that she is doing well. We can count on Samantha to make the most of this opportunity. The NHBB Hi-Tech Division has been a strong supporter of CVCSF from it’s founding in 2006 and actively supports numerous regional education programs.

Organization Development

CVCSSF officers; Philip Grisafi (VP), James Callahan (Secretary), Timothy Kolk (Treasurer), Carl Amos Johnson, (Director) and Rob Rubendall, are increasingly active in managing our organization, working with John Vance (President and Founder). It was announced at the annual meeting that Vance will step down by mid-2010 and that his successor will be Philip Grisafi. Vance will continue serving indefinitely as founding director, focusing his efforts on mentoring, public information and development. Also, Greg Scerbinski, recently retired ConVal teacher, has joined CVCSF as Website Administrator where he has already made an important contribution. (See CVCSF Website paragraph below.) Rachel Bowman, of the law firm of Bowditch and Dewey, has recently joined us to help assure that we don’t miss a beat in monitoring our grant winners and in tracking their careers beyond postsecondary graduation.

CVCSF Website up and Running: With the help of a Goyette Memorial grant provided via the New Hampshire Charitable Trust, we are glad to have announced in November that our website is up and running To view go to www.cvcsf.org.  We are glad to have this in place, serving both to provide public access to information about us and as a valuable tool for the storage and retrieval of information essential for effective management of our organization. On it you will find information about our awards and award winners, announcements, history, press releases, photographs and plans for ongoing development. Web page design was done for us by Megan Strickland with graphic design participation by Margaret Baker–Salmon Design. Greg Scerbinski, retired last year from ConVal High School faculty, is our web page administrator who makes all this possible.

2009 Annual Meeting

Contributors, guidance personnel (who nominate candidates for our financial and mentoring support), ConVal School District Superintendent, Richard Bergeron, directors, volunteers, mentors, and one our first award winners, Priscilla Coffill, twenty-eight in all, met on November 18 at Reynolds Hall (at All Saints Church) for our annual meeting and report on progress and plans. This good mix gave all participants an opportunity to communicate with each other to acquire a better understanding of the opportunities and challenges faced by CVCSF and its award winners and of how our program works. This open discussion approach was helpful for all. We hope to do it this way again next year, perhaps on a larger scale.

Top Jar Award

One success beyond our expectations was the result of our stepped-up campaign to raise funds through collection jars placed in stores, restaurants and other locations throughout the ConVal region. Started on a very small scale at Roy’s Market in 2008 it grew in 2009 from seven locations in January to twenty-four in December. Hoping we might raise $1,000 in the year, at year-end we had received $2,571. Our first ever CVCSF Top Jar Award (chocolates from Ava Marie Chocolates) was presented in December to Michelle and Andy Freeman, co-proprietors of the Dublin General Store. This was announced in the Ledger-Transcript on December 11 and will be again in the Dublin Advocate in January. This campaign was so successful that we were able to announce that a new, CVCSF ConVal Merchants scholarship will be awarded in June, 2010.

How are our CVCSF Scholars doing?

Fall semester grades are just coming in so it is early for a thorough report. What we can report now is that from the classes of 2007 through 2009, five have graduated or are expected to graduate this spring; four are in their second years in four-year programs and six are still in programs in which they have our ongoing financial support and monitoring assistance. We will report more fully in our March newsletter. A few are challenged, others will succeed and a few will excel. All will have had an enhanced opportunity because of your generosity and others will be motivated by their success stories to set higher achievement goals.

As always, we thank you for your ongoing support.

Third Quarter Newsletter to our Contributors September 30, 2009

Inspiring Hope and Confidence – Achieving in Tough Times

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.

         Second Quarter Newsletter to our Contributors  

Inspiring Hope and Confidence

Raising expectations: In an April 27 interview in Time about the need for reform in the American education system, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan spoke of the need implicit in reform to raise expectations. We were glad to read this since raising expectations is what we do. This is what the words "..give hope and confidence to more students in the ConVal region to achieve their potential" in our mission statement is about. We may not have an impact on education in the rest of the nation, but we can and do here. What impresses us is that once discouraging disadvantages for some are cleared they can just take off and excel. Alycia Mudrack, a dropout in her junior year, barely graduated from ConVal High School but made the dean's list in her first term at Hesser College, earned her associate degree this May and has already started classes to earn a second degree. Diana Lavoie is another example "Diana is proving that hard work makes success." So said surprise guest and retired ConVal coach and teacher, Art Giovannangeli (Mr.Gio, pronounced "Joe") at a Peterborough Lions Club reception on June 8. Diana, the CVCSF Peterborough Lions Club Scholar (Class of 2008), a ConVal late starter, inspired by "Mr. Gio" to become a chemistry teacher like him and made the dean's list in her first semester at Plymouth State University. (See enclosed copy of June 11 Monadnock Ledger-Transcript story CVCSF winners in the Class of 2009: A top award this year of $6,000 was presented on June 25 to Samantha Mannion, our first CVCSF NHBB HiTech Scholarship Award winner (more on this below). Samantha is "passionate about learning more and doing what I can to save the life in the oceans." She will study marine biology at UNH. Another $6,000 award went to Kathleen Taber who loves working with kids, has a strong passion for teaching and will study early childhood education. With negligible financial resources she will attend a nearby community college in Florida where she can live with her grandparents. An intermediate award of $2,700 has been granted to Patrick Morn to study engineering mechanics at West Virginia University. As standard procedure, a CVCSF Director or volunteer is assigned to each of our top three winners to monitor their progress and assist where possible and appropriate. Philip Grisafi, CVCSF Director, is Patrick Morn's monitor; Mary Lou O'Neil, another CVCSF Director is assigned to Samantha and to coordinate with Donna Marcin of NHBB HiTech Division, our partner in her award; and Robin Eichert of Peterborough, well acquainted with CVCSF, has volunteered to be Kathleen Taber's monitor. These connections are maintained until our scholars complete the programs for which our awards are granted. Other 2009 awards were $600 each to Gregg Brosseau (Peterborough); Carol Busch (Bennington); and Lisa Taylor, Francestown. The CVCSF NHBB HiTech Division Scholarship Award: CVCSF is particularly glad to have provided this scholarship award in partnership with NHBB HiTech Division. Samantha Mannion, the CVCSF NHB Hi-Tech Division scholar was the top winner of this year's CVCSF awards. As a modest graduation present she will receive from CVCSF a copy of Rachel Carson's book, The Sea Around Us. With Mary Lou O'Neil of CVCSF monitoring Samantha's progress, NHBB and its employees will be kept well informed and special events may develop to strengthen this connection. NHBB HiTech Division has been a generous supporter of education and other causes in the ConVal region and a supporter of CVCSF since its inception. News about 2007 winners: Three of our 2007 winners have graduated from the programs CVCSF supported. The fourth is doing well with two years to go in her four year program at BYU. Two who have graduated from associate degree programs must be the sort of successes Jack Welch had in mind in his June 25 Business Week advice to 2009 graduates that the key to success today is to overachieve. Alycia Mudrack and Priscilla Coffill have demonstrated that once disadvantages are overcome our scholars can achieve more than they imagined and inspire others to do the same. (See enclosed Scholars Newsletter #2 about Priscilla's nurse's pinning ceremony and graduation.) News about 2008 winners: All six of our 2008 award winners are doing well. Diana Lavoie, Peterborough Lions Club Scholar, on the dean's list in her first semester studying chemistry at Plymouth State University was mentioned above and is the subject of a news story enclosed. Morgan Boutwell, Monadnock Rotary Club Scholar, is earning top grades in business education at Southern New Hampshire and Justina Lafreniere, in the nursing program at UMass, Dartmouth continues to make progress there. Ben Holt (Bennington) animation and graphic game programming, Jie Lu (Dublin) and Nick Dostaler (Bennington) have all successfully completed their work through June and should graduate from their programs next year. Note well that with a total of sixteen awards given to disadvantaged students there has not been a single failure so far. In choosing our CVCSF scholars from an at risk population we know a 100% success rate will not go on forever, but so far we are doing well and making a difference. 2009 fundraising CVCSF financial circumstances are strong in spite of the state of the economy. Thanks to you, our continuing and generous contributors, particularly for grants this year of $10,000 from the Maude Corser Family Fund, $5,000 from the Gilbert Verney Foundation and a $1,500 contribution from the Peterborough Rotary Club we are confident that we will reach our 2009 goal. Collection jars, now in twenty locations (the newest in the Peterborough Diner and the Francestown General Store) are doing better than we expected with $1,100 raised through June. No big bequests yet to enhance sustainability, but they may come if we continue doing well as we expect to do.  New director elected: Philip Grisafi was elected as a CVCSF director on May 20 and as a member of its Executive Committee on June 25. He is a senior vice president of Mosse & Mosse Associates. 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.

       First Quarter Newsletter to our Contributors

Inspiring Hope and Confidence

"A tough market for graduates" is the headline in today's Monadnock Ledger-Transcript in a story about tough times ahead for this year's graduating class at Franklin Pierce University. Imagine what is ahead for those not even finishing high school, and for those with serious disadvantages but good potential who do graduate but lack the support necessary to be able go on to postsecondary education. These students are the precious resources ConVal Community Scholarship Foundation Dollars for Scholars® (CVCSF) is here to help and, through their success stories, to inspire hope and confidence in others with disadvantages and potential for success. Overcoming disadvantages and winning in hard times: Ten CVCSF grant winners in ConVal classes of 2007 and 2008 are proving that disadvantages can be overcome and more. CVCSF identifies disadvantaged students with potential for success early in their senior year. Giving them encouragement, mentoring and financial assistance plus monitoring their progress after high school makes a big difference. Their 100% success rate, so far, says that this is so. Five have won our top scholarship grants of just over 50% of New Hampshire Community College tuition. Four received awards of $500 (of which two were supplemented based on first semester performance). One was the winner of a $250 stipend by virtue of having qualified at the first level of competition. The first of these ten graduated in October 2008. Two will graduate in May 2009. Four are in four year baccalaureate degree programs.  Three are in associate degree or job training certificate programs. All are succeeding. Two have had dean's list recognition in their first semesters. CVCSF is making a difference, inspiring hope and confidence and raising the expectations of disadvantaged ConVal region students. Report on Winners in the ConVal Class of 2008 CVCSF awarded six grants to Class of 2008 graduates. All were chosen on the basis of the particular disadvantages they had to overcome, demonstrated desire to achieve and potential for success. They were given mentoring and the limited financial assistance CVCSF is able to provide. Each case is unique. Morgan Boutwell, Justina Lafreniere and Diana Lavoie, all in four year baccalaureate programs, won two-year $5,800 scholarships. (That they are in four year programs is coincidental. Half of those who have won our support so far have entered two-year associate degree or job training certificate programs.) Featured 2008 Award Winner Diana Lavoie (Peterborough), CVCSF Peterborough Lions Club scholar, is making great progress at Plymouth State University toward her degree in Chemistry Education. Diana was a slow starter. She did not have good grades at ConVal High School until she found herself and her desire to learn in Arthur Giovannangeli's chemistry class in her junior year. On her application she wrote "I want to be as good a teacher as Mr. Gio. He was the greatest ..." She is off to an excellent start at Plymouth State University and was on the Dean's List at the end of her first semester. She has been accepted as an exchange student at Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana  and will be there for her sophomore year. She and her mother will meet with her Peterborough Lions Club scholarship supporters in June.     Morgan Boutwell (Peterborough), CVCSF Monadnock Rotary Club Scholar, is at Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester, working on her bachelor's degree in Accounting. She had very good grades in her fist semester (four A's and a B) and found a part-time internship at TD Banknorth in Amherst. She and her mother will visit her sponsoring Monadnock Rotary Club in Dublin again in June. Erika Rogers, Development Director of Dublin School, is Morgan's assigned monitor. Justina Lafreniere (Antrim) is enrolled in the baccalaureate nursing program at UMASS Dartmouth Her mentors at ConVal High School monitoring her progress tell us that UMASS Dartmouth acknowledges that Justina is a hardworking student who has overcome serious obstacles to enroll in college. The College Now program there has awarded her an additional scholarship grant for having been so successful in her freshman year. Other awards given to 2008 ConVal High School graduates. Benjamin Holt (Bennington) is in the associate degree program in Animation and Graphic Game Programming at the New Hampshire Technical Institute (NHTI) in Concord. Jie Lu (Dublin) is in the Associate Degree program in Hotel Administration at NHTI. She came to Dublin from China to start her junior year with little English language experience. She did so well (three A's and one B) in her first semester at NHTI that her award was increased to $500 per semester instead of first semester only. (Her story was featured in our December 2008 newsletter.) Nick Dostaler (Bennington) has applied his $250 stipend to enter the Auto Mechanic job training certificate program at the Universal Technical Institute in Norwood MA. Update on CVCSF Scholars in the Class of 2007  We reported in our December newsletter that our four Class of 2007 grant winners are all doing well. Lee Corigliano had graduated from his Auto Mechanic training certificate and was well employed in Hillsboro. Alycia Mudrack is expected to have her Associate degree in Juvenile Justice from Hesser College in May. Priscilla Coffill, also supported by Monadnock Community Hospital, will have her nursing associate degree at NHTI in May. Eryn Tupper continues in her art education program at BYU - Idaho with great enthusiasm. 2009 Fundraising:  Nobody expects fundraising to be easy in 2009. Thanks to a $10,000 donation from the Maude Corser Family Trust and (so far) forty-one others in response to our January and March appeals, we have had a good first quarter. Our collection jars, now in fourteen locations, are doing better than expected. At their present rate we hope they will pay for one of our top awards. We need to raise $9,500 more and we don't expect to find that much in our collection jars. New initiatives are planned to get us to our goal. Note the new brochure enclosed with this newsletter. Missed opportunity: In a March 26 letter to the editor of the Monadnock Ledger-Transcript, Sharon resident Barton Goodeve noted that the "economy" was "cited by many as the reason they voted against bonding $5.5 million for school district facilities projects.  It is likely that a new bond would have less cost than the current bond it would have replaced." It would have had a miniscule effect on the current budget. Funds from the new bond would have been injected into the local economy creating construction sector jobs and badly needed work would have been completed at lower cost than is likely to be possible in the future. We lost a social and economic benefit opportunity that would have happened at little or no increased cost to tax payers. You are encouraged to attend school board meetings. See calendar at www.conval.edu, information, monthly events.  CVCSF Help wanted: We want to add a Publicity and Public Information officer to serve as a member of our board of directors. We have wonderful stories to tell and we need someone to help us spread the word. For inquiries about this volunteer position contact us at info [at] cvcsf [dot] org. A return addressed envelope is enclosed for your questions and comments.

Raising Expectations 

Commitment to raise expectations: On December 16, President-elect Obama announced that Arne Duncan, Chicago School Chief Executive Officer, is his choice to serve as Secretary of Education. Obama, Vice-President Elect, Biden; and nominee, Duncan; all stressed in this announcement ceremony the point that improvements and reform in our American education system are essential if our children are to be able to compete in an increasingly global economy. This perception is not exactly news. Who could disagree? What was new was the underscored observation that improvement will not be made in our schools without raising the expectations of all concerned (students, parents, educators, politicians, American society as a whole.) Expressed positively, improvements in education and elevated expectations go hand in hand. Improve quality of education and expectations will rise. Raising expectations of disadvantaged ConVal students: Raising expectations of disadvantaged ConVal students is what the ConVal Community Scholarship Foundation Dollars for Scholars® (CVCSF) does. With its supporting members and in partnership with ConVal High School Guidance personnel, CVCSF gives hope and confidence with community support to help more disadvantaged students in the ConVal Region achieve their potential. Fifteen disadvantaged ConVal seniors are to be notified on January 5 that they have been selected as candidates to receive CVCSF scholarship grants of $250 to $6,000 in 2009 for postsecondary education or job training. We expect that the success of these award winners will inspire others and help to raise their expectations as well. Need for our success more important than ever:  In a recent PBS Lehrer News Hour report it was observed that disadvantaged young people without education or job training beyond high school will be unable to find a place in line to look for a job in the economic environment expected for the foreseeable future. The challenge for all but the most qualified students is compounded by higher cost of education and reduced availability of financial aid. The hope and confidence that it is our mission to inspire can make the difference between effort to achieve and despair when it is needed most.   A special case in the ConVal Class of 2008: Exceptional award winner, Jie Lu, came to Dublin with her mother in 2006. She started her junior year at ConVal High School with limited facility with the English language, joined the soccer team, worked hard at her studies and, with special education ESL help, graduated in 2008. One of three winners of $500 CVCSF scholarship grants, she enrolled in the Hotel Administration Associate Degree program at the New Hampshire Technical Institute in Concord. Based on her first semester progress and continuing need, she has been granted a $1,700 supplemental award to apply to the three remaining semesters in this program.  A comparable special award was given last year to Peterborough Nursing Associate Degree student, Priscilla Coffill. 100% Success Rate for CVCSF Scholars:  Of the eleven winners of CVCSF scholarship grants awarded so far, all are succeeding. It stands to reason, given the nature of our target population, that it will not always be this way, but we are delighted with their success rate and progress to date. We have found that we can give hope and confidence to disadvantaged ConVal region students to overcome obstacles, to set more ambitious goals and to try harder. They have to understand that change doesn't just happen - that taking advantage of available resources requires effort. Job opportunities for CVCSF grant winners: Some of the jobs for which trained workers are likely to be in demand in the next several years in New Hampshire  -  in health and technology, for example - do not require four year degrees and can be prepared for at lower cost in excellent associate degree programs in New Hampshire Community Colleges or elsewhere by the students we are here to serve. CVCSF top scholarship grants are intended to approximate half of the tuition fees for these programs. Report on 2007 CVCSF Scholarship Winners: All four of our 2007 grant winners are doing well. One, our first CVCSF Peterborough Lions Scholar, has already earned his job training certificate and immediate employment, and another will earn her associate degree work in February. PRISCILLA COFFILL (Peterborough) - starts the fourth semester of her associate degree in nursing program at New Hampshire Technical Institute in Concord next month. She should graduate and go to work at Monadnock Community Hospital in June. Her story is exceptional. Her initial scholarship award was $500. She demonstrated such promise in her first semester that she was granted an additional award of $1,000 for each of three succeeding semesters, shared by CVCSF and the Monadnock Community Hospital. LEE CORIGLIANO (Antrim) - the first CVCSF scholar to complete his postsecondary education program, graduated from the auto mechanic training program at the Porter and Chester Institute in Chicopee, MA on October 4, returned to his home in Antrim and reported for work at his new job in Hillsborough two days later. His scholarship was provided by CVCSF in partnership with the Peterborough Lions Club. ALYCIA MUDRACK (Peterborough) - will complete her associate degree program in juvenile justice at Hesser College in Nashua in February. A CVCSF scholar who had dropped out of school, returned and barely graduated, Alycia became excited about education in her senior year at ConVal and was on the Dean's list in her second semester at Hesser College. ERYN TUPPER (Antrim) - starting her second year in art education at a branch of Brigham Young University in Rexburg, ID, wrote on September 16, "This semester I am enrolled in an art history class and really loving it. It is a great program and I am excited to see what the next three years will bring." Report on 2008 Winners: The first of our 2008 winners to share midterm grades reported one A, three A- and one B-. We will report further on the progress of our seven 2008 winners in our March 31 newsletter when they will be in spring semester classes. CVCSF Financial Condition: Facing the same critical global financial crisis as other charities it is appropriate to report here on our current financial condition. We keep cash in Ocean Bank for near-term award disbursements and minimal expenses. Funds for future scholarship grant commitments, fundraising and limited operating expenses are deposited in the Vanguard Group Prime Money Market Fund. We have suffered no financial losses in any of our accounts. Previously reported plans to open an endowment fund with the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation to assure long-term sustainability are on hold for now. While there are no safety guarantees in this turbulent time, we believe that your contributions and ours are as safe as is currently possible. Scholarship America, parent of Dollars for Scholars, of which we are part, has been rated in the top 1% of charities for fiscal management for seven years in a row by Charity Navigator, premier charity evaluator. For an appointment to discuss financial or other matters, call John Vance at (603) 924-4063. CVCSF Help wanted: CVCSF, an all volunteer organization, would like to add a Public Information director, also to serve as a member of our board of directors. Please contact us at the address below. 2009 Fundraising Appeal: Our annual appeal for your contributions is enclosed together with a return addressed envelope for your donations, comments, suggestions or questions.

Third Quarter Newsletter to our Contributors

Six CVCSF scholarship grant winners in the ConVal class of 2008 started their postsecondary education programs this month. The top three, $5,800 grant winners, in photos below from left to right, are: (Left) Diana Lavoie with her mother (far left) and Sue Chollet, a CVCSF Founder; (Center) Morgan Boutwell and her mother; and (Right) Justina Lafreniere. Diana (Peterborough) is at Plymouth State University preparing to teach chemistry and is winner of the CVCSF Peterborough Lions Scholarship. Morgan (Peterborough) is at Southern New Hampshire University studying accounting and is winner of the CVCSF Monadnock Rotary Club Scholarship. Justina (Antrim) is at University of Massachusetts - Dartmouth, preparing for a career in Nursing.

Smaller awards went to Nat Dostaler (Bennington), enrolled in an auto mechanics certificate program at Universal Technical Institute, Norwood, MA; Ben Holt (Bennington) working on an associate degree in Animation and Graphic Game Design at New Hampshire Technical Institute (NHTI) in Concord; and Jie Lu (Dublin) enrolled in an associate degree program in Hotel Administration, also at NHTI, Concord.

It is coincidental that our top three awards in 2008 have been given to students in four year programs. All CVCSF winners are chosen on the basis of obstacles overcome and potential for success in their chosen career paths. Our purpose is to assure that disadvantaged students with potential graduate from ConVal High School and have financial and mentoring assistance to complete a certificate, associate or other degree program. Our support is limited to two years of postsecondary education. We want these students to graduate from high school and have postsecondary education or training to better prepare them for employment.

RiverMead Reception; In August, CVCSF award winner Diana Lavoie and her mother were introduced at a gathering of RiverMead resident supporters, Peterborough Lions Club members and others. Her story is heartwarming. Not a good student in early high school years, she was so inspired by her ConVal chemistry teacher she had to follow his example and become one herself. She excelled in her second and third years. Diane, her mother said, could not have hoped for college without her CVCSF scholarship grant. With the enthusiasm and spirit Diana demonstrated at RiverMead we are sure she will succeed.

Report on 2007 Scholarship Winners: LEE CORIGLIANO (Antrim) - the first CVCSF scholar to complete his postsecondary education program, graduates from his auto mechanic training program at the Porter and Chester Institute in Chicopee, MA this week. He is returning to his home in Antrim and to his new job in Hillsborough. ALYCIA MUDRACK (Peterborough) - will complete her associate degree program in Juvenile Justice at Hesser College in Nashua in May. ERYN TUPPER (Antrim) - starting her second year at a branch of Brigham Young University in Rexburg, ID, wrote on September 16, "This semester I am enrolled in an art history class and really loving it. It is a great program and I am excited to see what the next three years will bring." Eryn plans to earn a degree in art education. PRISCILLA COFFILL (Peterborough) - is in the third semester of her Associate Degree in Nursing program at New Hampshire Technical Institute in Concord and should be ready to go to work at Monadnock Community Hospital next June.

CVCSF Financial Condition:  Facing a critical and global financial crisis, it is appropriate to say something here about the financial condition of CVCSF which continues to be as strong as it could be in current circumstances. We keep cash in Ocean Bank for near-term obligations. Funds sufficient for scholarship grant commitments, fundraising and other operating expenses for the longer term are deposited in the Vanguard Group Prime Money Market Fund. We are in process of opening an endowment fund with the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation to assure long-term sustainability. While there are no safety guarantees in this turbulent time, we believe that your contributions and ours are as safe as is currently possible. We continue to be an all-volunteer organization. We have prepared a CVCSF Financial Vision Statement that we will be glad to share and discuss with our contributors. (For an appointment, Call John Vance at (603) 924-4063.)

Tougher times ahead for 2009 graduates:  In recent weeks it has become clear that funds available for student loans are diminishing. It is already more difficult for applicants to borrow what they need for college and it is unlikely that this situation will improve soon. This makes initiatives such as ours, and your continuing support for it, more important than ever.

Web page development: A team has been put together to develop our web page. We plan to combine professional graphic and functional design assistance with ConVal graphic arts students and faculty participation. One of our directors has agreed to oversee this project. We have applied for a modest grant to help cover this cost and hope to report on progress in our next newsletter.

Monadnock Rotary Club Wellness Festival:  Believing that wellness in education is important, just as is physical wellness, CVCSF had a booth at this downtown Peterborough Festival on September 27. The event was a great success for the Monadnock Rotary Club, Peterborough and surrounding towns, and provided us with a fine opportunity to get our award winners' stories across in a festive venue.

Changes and Opportunities at CVCSF:  Tim Kolk, Managing Partner of Brookwood Capital in Peterborough, has succeeded Christine Clinton of Dublin as Treasurer. Christine is one of the Founders of CVCSF and we are grateful to her for getting us this far. As we continue to grow we need others to become actively involved. We are presently looking for someone to be our Publicity and Public Information Director.

A reply envelope is enclosed for your questions, comments or suggestions and for those who may wish to make contributions before the end of the current calendar year. This is our quarterly newsletter and not our annual fund raiser, but contributions are always needed and appreciated.