Scholarship America

The
Scholar
News and Notes from Scholarship America ®
Spring 2008
In This Issue:
Scholarship America’s
New Look
Dreamkeepers:
Expanding Our Reach
Students Making A
Difference in Arizona
Our Milestone Ranking by
Charity Navigator
Stepping In During a
Time of Tragedy
scholarshipamerica.org

The Scholar
News and Notes from Scholarship America ®
Letter From The President
Spring 2008
Dear Friends,
You may have already noticed a change
in this publication: in December,
Scholarship America ® rolled out a new
logo and color scheme. This is not a
simple modification of our previous
logo; it is a bold change and represents
the bold future of our organization. While
market research bears out the change—
a majority of the other scholarshiprelated
organizations are using a
mortarboard in their logo treatments,
and so a change differentiates us in
the market—we selected the eagle
because of what it represents: freedom,
vision and tenacity.
With its recent resurgence, leading
to its removal from the endangered
species list in 2007, the eagle also
represents spirit, determination, hard
work and perseverance. These are the
very characteristics that students must
have in order to be successful in their
postsecondary careers and beyond.
Scholarship America President and CEO
Dr. Clifford L. Stanley, Major General,
USMC (Retired)
Along with the new logo, we recently
launched an updated Web site
designed to help our visitors get the
information they need more quickly
and easily. In addition to a content-rich
home page and easier navigation, the
Web site boasts an interactive blog and
a more robust media landing page that
includes recent news, downloadable
publications and more. This is also the
area of the Web site in which we will
post our news releases and upcoming
events. As a result of our new Web
strategies, we are already reaching
more individuals who are as passionate
about education as you are and are
willing to share their time and resources
with aspiring students. I invite you to
visit our Web site often to stay informed
and in touch.
Late in 2007, Scholarship America
was selected by the Kisco Foundation
to administer the Fund for
Veterans’ Education, a privately funded
scholarship program for veterans of the
wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. This fund,
which currently stands at $8 million,
awards scholarships that fill a gap left
by the GI Bill, and assures that a college
education remains within reach of those
who have served our country.
We are already working on plans to
launch additional new programs in
2008, designed to assure a college
education remains within reach of every
student who desires one. News will be
reported as it happens on our Web site
(scholarshipamerica.org), as well as in
our next issue of The Scholar. Thank
you, as always, for your support of our
mission.
Warm regards,
Dr. Clifford L. Stanley
Major General, USMC (Retired)
President & CEO
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scholarshipamerica.org

News and Notes from Scholarship America ®
Spring 2008
The Scholar
Dreamkeepers Program Gets a Boost
The Dreamkeepers Emergency Financial
Aid program, which helps address
the high drop-out rates of community
college students who are faced with
unexpected expenses, will be expanded
in 2008 thanks to a $500,000 grant from
the Wal-Mart Foundation.
“A sudden health care crisis, reduction
in work hours or family emergency can
quickly derail the efforts of low-income
students striving to get a college
education,” said Dr. Clifford Stanley,
president and CEO of Scholarship
America. “Emergency financial aid
can make the difference between
reaching their dreams and dropping
out of higher education. We thank Wal-
Mart Foundation for supporting this
important initiative.”
The Dreamkeepers program was
started by Scholarship America in 2005
with a grant from Lumina Foundation
for Education, an Indianapolis-based
private foundation dedicated to
expanding access to and success in
education beyond high school. Today,
Scholarship America administers the
program at 11 community colleges
throughout the country. The colleges
were chosen because they enroll large
numbers of low-income students and
students of color – groups with high
rates of attrition that have traditionally
been underserved by the education
system. In its first two years, the
program delivered dramatic results
that changed people’s lives. The
Dreamkeepers program provided nearly
$595,393 to 1,566 students – easing
student worries about housing, food,
scholarshipamerica.org
“
Dreamkeepers gives
colleges the ability
to give promising
students a helping
hand when it feels
like the world is
conspiring against
their dreams of a
college degree.
Margaret McKenna,
President, Wal-Mart Foundation
utilities, tuition, books, transportation,
child care and medical needs. The
result was a significant impact on
attrition. In 2005, 64 percent of students
re-enrolled or graduated after receiving
assistance; in 2006, retention rates
went up to 85 percent at participating
schools, with three reporting retention
of 90 percent or higher. Funding from
the Wal-Mart Foundation will expand
the emergency financial aid program to
additional community colleges located
in Wal-Mart’s opportunity zones.
“The Wal-Mart Foundation is pleased
to support and expand the work of
Scholarship America’s Dreamkeepers
program. Dreamkeepers gives the
colleges the ability to give promising
students a helping hand when it feels
like the world is conspiring against
their dreams of a college degree,”
said Margaret McKenna, president of
the Wal-Mart Foundation. “College
education is the ticket to a better life,
especially for disadvantaged students
working their way toward better jobs
and more security.”
Posters advertising the Dreamkeepers Emergency Financial Aid program hang in Scholarship
America’s office. These are distributed to participating schools to assist in making
students aware of the program.
3

The Scholar
News and Notes from Scholarship America ®
Education in Bloom in Tucson
by Michelle Matthews
More than a thousand volunteers—
587 students, 321 family members,
245 school staff, and 96 community
members—all united in one cause
during the fall of 2007: giving Sunnyside
Municipal School District in Tucson a
facelift for the second year in a row.
Spring 2008
Sunnyside is one of six school
districts participating in the Learning
Communities Initiative, funded by USA
Funds and managed by Scholarship
America, that aims to significantly
increase the number of youth who
complete high school and successfully
pursue postsecondary education. The
goal is to encourage entire communities
to value and actively support education
through motivational programs like
Scholarship America’s ScholarShop ® ,
and through community activities that
support education.
Sunnyside’s original decision to partake
in Make a Difference Day, a nationwide
effort sponsored by USA Weekend,
came about during the 2006-07 school
year, after a student suggested “making
over” every school in the district. It was
a hefty task considering the district
encompasses 22 different schools, yet
it also seemed like the perfect project
for Sunnyside, which strives to create
a community culture of lifelong learning
based on the district’s status as a
Learning Community.
On a sunny October day in Tucson in
2006, community volunteers came
together to paint hallways, trim weeds,
and help perk up the overall appearance
Students at Rivera Elementary School in Tucson created this mural and
garden as part of Make a Difference Day, one of a number of programs
designed to help students in the Learning Communities Initiative engage
with their education.
of the schools. The event was so
successful that only a few months later,
school administrators and teachers, like
Heidi Hoscheidt of Rivera Elementary,
were anxious to start planning Make a
Difference Day for 2007.
Ms. Hoscheidt, an art teacher and
school captain, participated in monthly
meetings with school directors in
the district to discuss what projects
would be appropriate undertakings.
Some schools decided to re-paint their
basketball courts, others wished to
plant new trees on school grounds, and
many wanted to paint walls and clean
up school property.
Ms. Hoscheidt had other ideas. “As an
art teacher, I wanted to [do] something
that everyone could be a part of, so I
came up with the idea of a mural for
Rivera and also for a school garden.”
Several local retailers, including Lowe’s
and Home Depot, donated paint for the
mural, as well as plants and gardening
tools. Rivera sixth-graders came up
with the mural design.
The students were asked to brainstorm
images that reflected what going to
school meant to them, Ms. Hoscheidt
said. She then designed a sketch of
the mural based on the kids’ ideas and
outlined the sketch on the wall in black
paint. On Make a Difference Day, more
than 80 volunteers came to help paint
the mural. Volunteers also helped plant
Rivera’s first community garden, which
includes flowers and desert plants.
In Bloom continues next page
4
scholarshipamerica.org

News and Notes from Scholarship America ®
Spring 2008
The Scholar
News In Brief
Scholarship America
Receives Sixth Straight
Four-Star Rating
For the sixth straight year, Scholarship
America has received a four-star rating—
the highest possible—from Charity
Navigator, the nation’s premier evaluator
of non-profit fiscal efficiency.
Reaching this pinnacle six times in a row
is a feat rarely achieved by American nonprofits.
In his letter of congratulations,
Michael Smith, interim president of
Charity Navigator, points out: “Only 2%
of the charities we’ve rated have received
at least 6 consecutive 4-star evaluations,
indicating that Scholarship America
outperforms most charities in America
in its efforts to operate in the most
fiscally responsible way possible. This
‘exceptional’ designation from Charity
Navigator differentiates Scholarship
America from its peers and demonstrates
to the public it is worthy of their trust.”
Scholarship America’s full rating can be
viewed by visiting www.charitynavigator.
org and searching “Scholarship America,”
or by request from our national office.
The View and Scholarship
America Team Up After
Tragedy
On February 20, Scholarship America
became a part of ABC’s daytime show The
View, establishing a $25,000 scholarship
for three-year-old Allyson Dunn.
The show’s final segment featured an
interview with Louise Zoller, a parent of
a child in a Florida day-care. Ms. Zoller
came into the day-care center to pick
up her child, and discovered the children
and workers hiding from an armed man
on the premises. Eventually, she was able
to disarm him, but not before he shot
and killed his estranged wife—Allyson’s
mother, a worker at the center, where
Allyson was also spending her day.
Ms. Zoller appeared on the show in
hopes that it would help bring attention
to Allyson’s plight; the episode’s final
surprise came when host Barbara Walters
announced to Ms. Zoller that Scholarship
America had set up a scholarship that
would ensure $25,000 will be available
for Allyson when she’s ready for college.
Our thanks go out to ABC and The View
for allowing us to help this young girl face
tragedy and see a brighter future.
In Bloom continued from previous page
The mural, a trailing vine showing
“Education in Bloom,” is in the front
of the school on an ascending wall,
and is lush with sunflowers, desert
flowers, and the school images that her
students helped design—a book with
a flower blooming out of it, musical
notes, easels and paint brushes, and a
microscope.
“The kids were really excited to think
about the ways we can communicate
our school and what’s important to
us. We have our name, Rivera, trailing
out of the vine as well,” Ms. Hoscheidt
said.
For the second year in a row, the
response from the Tucson community
has been more than supportive.
“A lot of the parents want to see this
more often and not just once a year for
Make a Difference Day,” according to
Ms. Hoscheidt. “Almost every school
had more volunteers than they thought
they would have. I had parents and
family member come up to me and
say, ‘Why don’t we do this more often?’
They were just so excited to come and
help out.”
Learn more about the Sunnyside
School District at www.sunnysideud.
k12.az.us; find out how you can
participate in Make a Difference Day
at www. usaweekend.com/diffday, or
by contacting Scholarship America’s
national office.
This month, the Sunnyside District
received further good news. In part due
to the district’s dedication to student
involvement in education, USA Funds
presented the Sunnyside School District
Alumni Association Dollars for Scholars
chapter with a $100,000 grant.
“This funding will permit us to significantly
increase the number of students
we can assist with scholarships to make
their college dreams come true,” said
Sunnyside Superintendent Dr. Manuel
Isquierdo.
Added USA Funds president and
CEO Carl Dalstrom, “The Sunnyside
Learning Community has demonstrated
tremendous progress during the past
three years. We are delighted to help
increase the capacity of the local Dollars
for Scholars chapter.”
scholarshipamerica.org
5
www.scholarshipamerica.org

The Scholar
News and Notes from Scholarship America ®
Spring 2008
The Scholar
is a publication of
Founder
Dr. Irving A. Fradkin
President and CEO
Dr. Clifford L. Stanley
Board of Trustees
Richard J. Schwab,
Interim Chair
Mim Schreck, Secretary
Kay M. Marquet, Treasurer
Michael J. Ryder, Clerk
Judith Allen
Treasa Bowers
Thomas L. Cardella
Timothy A. Christensen
Suzanne Huffmon Esber
Richard L. Ferguson
Tina Lee
Barbara B. McBee
Paul M. Ostergard, Esq.
Wintley A. Phipps
Paula Prahl
Robert B. Rasmussen
Michael D. Ryan
Seema Shah
Philip J. Webster, Chair Pro Tem
Editor
Matt Konrad
The Scholar is sent to Scholarship
America’s donors in April,
August and October. If you wish to
be removed from the list, change
your address, or submit ideas, please
contact Matt Konrad at mkonrad@
scholarshipamerica.org, 952-830-
7306, or c/o Scholarship America,
1550 American Blvd. E., Suite 155,
Minneapolis, MN 55425.
Student Entrepreneurs See
The Big Picture
In Providence, Rhode Island—
coincidentally, home of Scholarship
America’s first national headquarters—
one group of high school students has
found a uniquely delicious way to give
back to Dollars for Scholars.
Students at the Metropolitan Regional
Career and Technical Center (the
MET, to its students and faculty) first
developed the idea for the Big Picture
Soda Company in an entrepreneurship
seminar in 2005. It might have remained
theoretical, until students Yesenia
Mercado and DJ Hall, along with MET
cofounder Dennis Littky and teacher Bill
Daugherty took the challenge of turning
their idea into something with tangible
results. The eleven students on the first
Big Picture Soda Company management
team embarked on developing a flavor
(pineapple/passionfruit eventually won
out), finding a bottling company, creating
a brand and finding sales outlets.
By early 2007 they’d gone from a class
project to a startup soda company, found
themselves profiled by PBS and the
Providence Journal, and pounded the
pavement to get retail space in more than
two dozen area stores, including both
local Whole Foods locations.
The MET High School students in charge
of the Big Picture Soda Company gather
around their new product display in the
Providence, RI Whole Foods store. (Photo
courtesy Big Picture Soda Co.)
And this March, they’ve announced a
culmination of their first successful year,
donating $2,000 in profits to MET Dollars
for Scholars.
In addition, the company’s young
executives are not only planning on
keeping Big Picture Soda going strong,
but hope to expand both the company
and their donations to Dollars for
Scholars. In the backyard of Scholarship
America’s original chapters, these young
entrepreneurs
provide just one more
example of how community-based efforts
can help ensure access to postsecondary
education for themselves—and well into
the future.
To learn more about Big Picture Soda
Company, visit bigpicturesoda.org.
Scholarship America’s Minneapolis office has moved!
Please note our new mailing address: Scholarship America,
1550 American Blvd. E., Suite 155, Minneapolis, MN 55425.
Phone numbers and e-mail addresses remain the same.
6
scholarshipamerica.org

News and Notes from Scholarship America ®
Spring 2008
The Scholar
A Look Around Scholarship America’s Regions
As always, Scholarship America’s seven
regional offices have been busy working
with Dollars for Scholars chapters,
students and communities around the
country this quarter. here’s a look at a
few highlights.
Iowa Dollars for Scholars will soon be
embarking on a program to start new
chapters and strengthen and expand
existing ones, thanks to a $10,000 grant
from the Prairie Meadows Racetrack
and Casino’s Community Betterment
Program, which funds arts, economic
development, education and human
services throughout the state of Iowa.
Iowa Dollars for Scholars representatives Chris Korte, Judi Pierick and Melinda Huisinga
(front row, L to R) accept a $10,000 donation from Prairie Meadows Racetrack and Casino,
a longtime donor to the organization. Representing Prairie Meadows are Hector Morales,
Ed Skinner, Dolph Pulliam and Dan Byers (back row, L to R).
“Iowa Dollars for Scholars is excited
and grateful for support from Prairie
Meadows Racetrack and Casino,” said
Judi Pierick, Executive Director of Iowa
Dollars for Scholars. “Prairie Meadows
has been instrumental in helping create
much of the Dollars for Scholars legacy
that exists in Central Iowa today. Its
ongoing support of our mission has
helped Iowa Dollars for Scholars to
make significant progress in its vision of
encouraging post-secondary education
attendance for Central Iowa students
through strong Dollars for Scholars
support.”
Just to the east, Illinois Dollars for
Scholars has announced the winners
of its 2007-2008 Lincolnland Legends
Essay Competition, a statewide contest
in which high school students can win
not only scholarships for themselves, but
for their personal heroes to designate to
the school of their choice. This year,
honorees were nominated from the field
of business; the 12 honorees and their
student nominators will be feted at a
gala banquet at the Lincoln Museum in
Springfield on April 5, with the winning
essay writer receiving a total of $10,000
in scholarship money.
Indiana Dollars for Scholars is also
gearing up for the spring awards season;
the winners of the Hoosier Heroes essay
contest have just been announced, and
the region is also taking nominations for
its annual Chapter Awards, honoring
the best Dollars for Scholars chapters
from across the state. For more
information on either program, visit
indianadollarsforscholars.org.
Elsewhere, Northwest Dollars for
Scholars will be hosting Light the Fire
for Education, its annual fundraising
gala, on May 8 in Seattle, raising funds
for Dollars for Scholars chapters across
Washington and Oregon.
Finally, Dollars for Scholars chapters
across the country recently received the
2008 Collegiate Partners Directory, a
listing of the more than 500 colleges,
universities and trade schools that have
partnered with Scholarship America to
maximize Dollars for Scholars aid on
their campuses. To find out more about
this important aspect of regional support,
visit scholarshipamerica.org and search
for schools, download the directory, or
find more information on how your local
students can make the most of their
financial aid.
scholarshipamerica.org
7

And Finally ...
One Chapter, Fifty Years
Fall River: 50 Years of Scholarships
Signs entering the town dub Fall River, Mass. “The Scholarship City.” Here’s why.
2,420
Number of students who
have received aid from
our Fall River chapter
11
Number of communities,
following Fall River’s
lead, that incorporated
as Citizens’ Scholarship
Foundation of America
$6,000
Raised in Fall River’s first
fundraising campaign, 1958
$85,995
Raised in Fall River’s most recent fiscal
year. Just like the plan Irving Fradkin laid
out in 1958, this represents nearly $1 for
every single resident of the city.
3,800
Number
of communities
now served by Scholarship
America’s 1,225
Dollars for Scholars
Chapters.
$1,472,757
Total dollars raised by the Citizens’ Scholarship Foundation of Fall River
Citizens’ Scholarship Foundation
of Fall River boasts plenty of famous
alumni, but the most well-known name
associated with the organization is
that of Dr. Irving Fradkin, Scholarship
America’s founder. This May represents
the 50th anniversary of Dr. Fradkin
sitting down with a few friends and
neighbors in Fall River, Mass., and
plotting out the simple strategy of local
scholarship fundraising that would
become Dollars for Scholars.
As we look back on the 50 years of
our very first chapter, here’s a glimpse
inside the numbers. Plenty has
changed about college—the costs of
everything from tuition to textbooks;
the number of students attending, the
array of options open to them—but,
even after half a century, the dedication
of Scholarship America’s original city
remains the same.