“INVESTING IN OUR FUTURE” SCHOLARSHIP GALA SET FOR MARCH 1ST
School superintendents of suburban Cook County and collar county districts have joined forces with the United Negro College Fund to raise money for scholarships for students in their communities.
Founded in 1991 to study the impact of demographic and diversity changes on schools, the Superintendents’ Commission for the Study of Demographics and Diversity (SCSDD) works to improve educational opportunities for students. Since 2005, the commission has awarded hundreds of thousands of scholarships to students.
This will be the first time that the group will partner with UNCF, the nation’s largest minority education organization.
COVID-19 has impacted college funding, so raising funds for scholarships for students, especially students of color, is even more needed, according to educators.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has had and will continue to have an impact on college funding for all high school seniors,” said Dr. Johnnie Thomas, president of the Superintendents’ Commission and superintendent of Rich Township 227.
Dr. Thomas adds, “This is especially true for minority students attending each of our districts.”
By partnering with UNCF, Thomas said that the group hopes to provide funding for even more students. Students like Kylie Hughes, 19, know the difference that a scholarship can make. Hughes, a 2021 graduate of Southland College Prep Charter High School in Richton Park, received a UNCF scholarship and attends Spelman College in Atlanta where she is majoring in international studies with a minor in economics.
“It definitely helped to relieve some of the financial pressure,” Hughes said.
Her brother, Joshua, a 2020 graduate of Southland College Prep, attends Howard University, one of the historical HBCUs that UNCF supports. Their mother, Reba Hughes, is grateful for the effort that the superintendents are making to raise funds for students like her children.
“You are teaching a young mind that is apprehensive about his or her future that we support their future and that they have one.” says Hughes.
“We’re committed to making sure that our children not only get into college, but they have the financial means to stay in college,” said Dr. Blondean Y. Davis, CEO of Southland College Prep.
