When Mark Bryant, a 17-year-old senior at the Professional Academies Magnet at Loften High School, heard about the Take Stock in Children’s program he knew very little about it, nor the organization that started the program The Education Foundation of Alachua County.
All he knew was that he had friends in the program whose mentors met them for special lunches.
“I started hanging out with my friends and their mentors and eventually I got an interview for it,” Mark said.
Mark is one of the 59 students from Alachua County who will receive a Florida two-year, prepaid college scholarship to any college or technical program, through the Take Stock in Children program. And he’s one of the 58 students to earn a scholarship through the Education Foundation’s senior scholarship program.
Increasing access to education whether through a laptop loaner program to bridge the digital divide, a food pantry to address hunger or a grant to help eligible students pay for child care is in the works for Santa Fe College.
SF College President Paul Broadie II offered his vision for the school at Wednesday s monthly meeting of the Black on Black Crime Task Force held via Zoom.
Broadie said the $40 million gift in December from Mackenzie Scott, former wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, is the largest single donation in the college’s history and will support programs that increase access to education, enrich the community and advance the school s mission.