Officials Gather for Presentation of Grant to Arizona School District’s Dollars for Scholars

USA Funds^® ’ board of trustees, representatives of the Sunnyside School District, and Sunnyside alumni gathered March 7 in Tucson, Ariz. for the presentation of a $100,000 grant from USA Funds to the Sunnyside School District Alumni Association Dollars for Scholars chapter.

Included in the award from USA Funds is a $25,000 challenge grant that will match the scholarship funds that the Sunnyside Dollars for Scholars raises from new sources in the next year.

At the event, William Neale, chairman of the USA Funds board of trustees, spoke of the importance of scholarships and highlighted the success of the Sunnyside Learning Community.

“The Learning Communities initiative is making a real difference in the lives of students in each Learning Community, especially here in the Sunnyside School District,” said Neale. “The Sunnyside Learning Community has truly embraced the mission of the Learning Communities initiative and is enhancing the learning environment for students here.”

Three years ago, a coalition of organizations, spearheaded by USA Funds and Scholarship America joined forces to focus resources on six communities with the aim of significantly increasing the number of young people from those communities who complete high school and successfully pursue postsecondary education. Sunnyside School District is among the six areas targeted in the effort.

As part of its involvement in the Learning Communities Coalition, Sunnyside takes part in programs such as ScholarShop and ScholarShop Junior [http://scholarshipamerica.org/scholarshop_jr.php], programs of Scholarship America that help middle and high school students prepare for college, and the USA Funds early awareness programs USA Funds Unlock the Future^®  and USA Funds Consejos.

In 2007 the Sunnyside Dollars for Scholars chapter awarded more than $57,000 in scholarships to help 60 Sunnyside District students attend college. Among those students is Patty Gamez, a Dollars for Scholars scholarship recipient who now is a student at the University of Arizona in Tucson. The success of Gamez and her family is featured in the 2007 USA Funds annual report.

USA Funds’ new grant builds on previous support of the Sunnyside Learning Community. Last year, USA Funds awarded $150,000 to provide program and staff support for the Sunnyside Learning Community. Last year’s award was part of a $900,000 grant USA Funds awarded to the six Learning Communities in 2007.