CMSD NEWS BUREAU

12/4/2017

The local chapter of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority has raised $100,000 to help more CSMD students go to college.

The Alpha Omega chapter announced the gift Saturday during its centennial gala at the Hilton Cleveland Downtown. District CEO Eric Gordon was among nearly 600 people who attended the celebration.

The scholarships will benefit seniors in the Class of 2018 who were accepted to college but need "last dollars" to fill the gap between their financial aid awards and the costs of college, said sorority president Monica L. Bourn. Bourn works for CMSD as the transformation coordinator at Max S. Hayes High School.

The chapter has raised varying amounts of scholarship money for CMSD graduates in past years, but this is the largest amount yet, Bourn said. 

“It’s important for us to raise money for CMSD scholars, because many of us are part of the CMSD community,” she said. “We want all of our students to achieve success, and we want them to follow their dreams of going to college.”

CMSD students are graduating in increasingly larger numbers and data shows they are better prepared for college. But fewer are enrolling, with cost a possible reason for that trend.

Cleveland is seeking to become the nation's fourth chapter of Say Yes to Education. The organization helps communities provide scholarships to help fill gaps in tuition and, more important, align services to keep students on track to graduation.