Happy POE New Year!

At POE, we work together all year round, but our really active time is between September and May.  So, we have started a new tradition:  we love to join with fellow mentors to celebrate the beginning of the POE New Year.  We have 50 mentors who are dedicated to the success of our students over their entire college careers.  Great people, varied interests, and generous.

This year, we have lots to celebrate. Since POE’s Palo Alto, CA founding in 1984, over 500 students’ college careers have been supported with more than $4 million in scholarships.  Currently we are working with more than 160 students with a graduation rate that is one of the highest in the nation for comparable organizations!

This past year, we also added a new program targeted at helping transferring community college graduates fund the remainder of their college years.  Technically, this was a pilot.  But it was very successful and we are thrilled with the quality of the applicants.  We had so many terrific  students  that we stretched to fund seven students instead of the two we originally planned for.

In total, last spring we added 49 new students: 31 high school students on the Peninsula, 6 in POE Mid-Atlantic, 5 in POE South Bay and 7 Community College Transfers; 33 POE scholars Graduated from college; and the average annual student award rose from $4000 to $4300.

 At POE, we are committed to helping low income students create better lives for themselves and those around them.  That’s worth a celebration every so often!  Happy POE New Year.