Bright Prospect Scholar Support Program

Who are the scholars Bright Prospect serves? They live in the inner city, or barrios, or in other low-income communities where each day they face economic, cultural and racial barriers to success. Many are the children of immigrants who speak little or no English. Most of their parents have had little formal education and work at minimum-wage jobs. Most live in lowrent or subsidized housing. Some may be homeless, while others are just a paycheck away from losing their home. All live at or below the poverty line. In their neighborhoods, domestic violence is common. Substance abuse is prevalent. Gang activity and crime are all too frequent.

For a young person in this uncertain environment, excelling in high school, let alone preparing for college, is a formidable challenge. Even the most supportive families have neither the knowledge nor the experience to help their children take the necessary steps toward college. For these students, school frequently takes a backseat to the need for employment to supplement the family income. A single setback — an

illness, a layoff, a late rent payment — can signal disaster for a household. Some students live with both parents, but many more live with a single parent, or an aunt, a grandmother, a sister or foster parent. Some students are shuffled from one living situation to another. The prospects for scholastic achievement under such circumstances are dim.

Despite the hardships and adversity that constantly pervade their lives, some students manage to excel. They do so on their own, through sheer strength of character. Gifted, talented and fiercely determined, these students often stand out from their peers at an early age, earning exceptional grades from kindergarten through high school. Many dream of college as their only way out of a dead-end existence, the one way to make a better life for their families — but have no idea how to begin to achieve that dream.

Communities throughout the country harbor such remarkable young men and women who are desperate for a program like Bright Prospect.