Scholarship program receives $200,000 grant

By Lynn Hotaling

Gov. Mike Easley announced last week that New Century Scholars, created in 1995 through a partnership between Jackson County Schools and Southwestern Community College, has received a grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission to expand the scholarship program to additional areas in Western North Carolina.

"The New Century Scholars program gives students of all educational levels and backgrounds the personal, academic and financial assistance necessary to become productive citizens," Easley said. "The program sends students to colleges where they will learn the skills that they need to join the work force. This program will help further our education and economic development goals in North Carolina."

Originally conceived by Charles McConnell, then superintendent of Jackson County Schools, and Barry Russell, former president of SCC, New Century Scholars has expanded to in six years to serve three counties. The program is now operated as a partnership among SCC, Jackson, Macon and Swain county school systems, Western Carolina University and civic and business communities in the three counties.

McConnell and Russell wanted to design something to aid students who typically are overlooked - good, solid, capable students who need an incentive to consider college, McConnell said. Scholarships already existed for the brightest students, and programs were in place for those with special needs, he said.

"The idea was that we had kids capable of doing college work who would most likely stay in the community and become community leaders, and we needed to encourage them," McConnell said.

Private partners pledge scholarship funding which is then is offered to selected rising seventh-graders, who, with their parents' involvement, agree to maintain academic and behavioral standards throughout the rest of their public school careers.

Students who meet these conditions are guaranteed full scholarships to attend SCC, and Western Carolina University has pledged to provide scholarships for those students who wish to obtain a four-year degree after successfully completing work at SCC.

SCC officials were asked to apply for this latest grant by the governor's office and the Appalachian Regional Commission, said Connie Haire, the community college's vice president for student and institutional development, who co-wrote the grant with Laura Pennington, SCC's director of community and resource development.

"We are thrilled to receive this funding," Haire said Tuesday. "It's going to be a lot of work - it's a major project - but we're ready for it."

SCC will use the grant funding to provide technical support and matching funds to three additional New Century Scholars programs in the WNC region, Haire said. Officials expect to have a regional coordinator in place by the end of February and hope to select new classes of seventh-graders to begin the program in the fall, she said.

Interested communities can then apply to SCC for matching funds to replicate the program in their area, Haire said.

Right now is an exciting time for the program, Haire said, because the first group of Scholars has arrived on campus.

"They're here, and they're responding beautifully," Haire said. "They're comfortable here because they've been here many times during the past six years. They've made a natural progression from high school to college."

McConnell, who continues to assist with fund-raising as needed for New Century Scholars, said he is pleased SCC has received a grant to expand the program.

"My greatest pleasure in watching this develop is the hope we've given the kids," McConnell said. "The second pleasure is the support individuals in the community have provided. Some of them have donated every year since we started back in 1995."

The governor's office will work with SCC in replicating and expanding the program to additional areas. During the next 18 months, project staff will lay the foundation for and build new partnerships among community colleges, four-year institutions, the public schools and the business community in order to offer the program to students in additional areas of the region, an Easley spokesman said.

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