Grant Advances College Access, Preparedness and Success in Learning Community

USA Funds^® recently awarded a $25,000 grant to the Mary Rigg Neighborhood Center in Indianapolis to support creation of a Service Scholars program as part of the Learning Communities Initiative with Washington Community School.

Modeled after the AmeriCorps federal service program, the Service Scholars program enlists college students from local universities to implement programming within the Learning Communities Initiative. Programming includes Scholarship America’s ScholarShop and ScholarShop Jr. programs and USA Funds Unlock the Future^®.

ScholarShop and ScholarShop Jr. focus on activities that motivate and prepare young people to achieve their full potential. USA Funds Unlock the Future is an early awareness program for middle-school students and their families.

Service Scholars also serve as college-student role models and assist in after-school programs. In exchange for their services, Service Scholars receive a $1,000 education award at the end of their service semester. Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis provides an additional $500 each semester for IUPUI students who serve. Service Scholars commit to 10 hours of service a week throughout the semester and additional mandatory training sessions.

“USA Funds’ support of this program is in line with USA Funds’ mission and that of the Learning Communities Initiative,” says Pat Roe, special assistant to the president, USA Funds. “The grant helps support education awards for the college students who are Service Scholars. In turn, the Service Scholars present early awareness programs to students.”

USA Funds in 2005 joined a coalition of organizations that are focusing services on six pilot communities — including Washington Community School. The Learning Communities Initiative aims to improve access to postsecondary education for low-income students. 

The Service Scholars program began in fall 2006 with four college students placed at Washington Community School. This semester, three additional scholars — including two Washington Community School seniors — were placed at each of the three elementary schools that feed into Washington Community School. The goal is to add three more Service Scholars next year, so each school and community center within the Washington School Learning Community will have a Service Scholar. The program aims to ensure that all students within the Learning Community receive positive messages regarding postsecondary education, options and preparation.

“After exposure to this programming, our students see value in themselves and that their talents can translate into a career,” says Jim Grim, community school coordinator and Learning Communities Initiative director, Washington Community School. “It gets students thinking in terms of a postsecondary education.

“We found that our seventh-graders who were exposed to USA Funds Unlock the Future and ScholarShop in the sixth grade were more aware of postsecondary options than some of our freshmen, so the programming has a real impact.”

The Mary Rigg Neighborhood Center serves as the fiscal agent for the Washington Learning Community and is one of the 49 partnering organizations at the school. The Community School enlists the entire community to pool resources so students have the conditions necessary to learn.

The goal of the Washington School Learning Community is to increase graduation rates and the number of students attending postsecondary-education institutions, with the ultimate goal of improving the economic conditions and development of the community. In 2006, 81 percent of students graduating from the Washington Community School were accepted into postsecondary institutions and amassed more than $1 million in financial aid.