May 28, 2024
In-person high school visits are a pillar of the Meeting Street Scholarship Fund’s recruitment efforts, but those typically are reserved for seniors.
The Scholarship experimented this spring by expanding its outreach to younger students to motivate them to stay on course to purse this life-changing opportunity. This Early Outreach Initiative is one of its many efforts to support students throughout the college admissions process.
“To this point, we’ve been rewarding those students who had the intrinsic drive to work hard and achieve,” said John Huber-MacNealy, senior program director for the Scholarship. “Moving forward, we want to also incentive younger students to do the hard work to ensure their eligibility for this Scholarship. Raising awareness earlier gives underclassmen a real, tangible goal to work toward.”
The Early Outreach Initiative launched at five pilot schools – three in Charleston County and two in Florence County. An estimated 200 sophomores attended the in-person sessions led by Huber-MacNealy, who explained both the value of a college degree and the Scholarship.
Sophomores in attendance were in the top 30 percent of their class, meaning they’re on track to earn the South Carolina LIFE Scholarship. A majority of the enrollment at the target schools also qualifies for free and reduced meals, meaning they likely also would satisfy the Scholarship’s requirement to have a demonstrated financial need.
Huber-MacNealy showed students graphics demonstrating the dramatic disparity in earning potential for those with a college degree compared to those without a degree. He talked about the paper ceiling of earnings that students without a degree likely would face.
“I saw a lot of ears perk up,” he said. “They became more and more invested as we discussed their full range of options after high school. Some students simply hadn’t considered college as a viable option.”
St. John’s High School Director of Counseling Kaytie Widener scheduled the visit and recruited students to attend the session. She said she’d love for the Scholarship team to continue presenting to sophomores in the future.
“This is huge for our students,” she said. “They need to understand what they’re aiming for and the importance of their junior year transcripts. A lot of the kids who were there had questions and were genuinely interested in the Scholarship.”
The Scholarship team plans to expand the Early Outreach Initiative to more schools in the 2024-25 school year and for it to become a cornerstone of its spring programming calendar.
“We want every eligible sophomore in our partner high schools to hear directly from us about this incredible opportunity and be in the room again when we return during their senior year,” Huber-MacNealy said.
© 2024 Meeting Street Scholarship Fund|Policies
