Jared Chasse, 12, wants to be an oceanographer when he grows up, and the City of Gainesville is offering to help pay for him to reach that goal.
Jared, classified by the state as being an “at-risk” youth, is one of seven lucky seventh-graders in Alachua County who will receive full two-year scholarships to college thanks to the Take Stock in Children program and the city.
The scholarships were awarded at a ceremony at Westwood Middle School on Tuesday evening.
The students must graduate, maintain a 2.5 GPA, remain drug- and crime-free, and meet with an appointed mentor once a week to reap their rewards.
“The whole idea behind this program is to help break the cycle of poverty,” said Rick Mulligan, executive director of the Alachua County Public School Foundation.
This is the first year the city has contributed directly to the state-run Take Stock in Children program, which has been awarding promising and underprivileged children with scholarships since 1996.
As part of the new Gainesville Enrichment Mentoring program, the city has put forward $45,000 toward scholarships, so more children may benefit.
“We plan to continue into the future and plan to seek funding sufficient enough for more students,” said Cecil Howard, director of Gainesville’s Office of Equal Opportunity. “If we could get funding for 100, that wouldn’t be too many to me.”
Jared’s mom, Julia Chasse, agrees.
She moved to Gainesville from New York with her husband and two of her three children about three years ago.
She said she was “awestruck” to find Florida had such a program and “pleasantly surprised” that her son was chosen.
“I think all states should adopt something like this,” she said. “I’m very proud and very lucky.”
