Scholarship Corner (July 4-10, 2019)
Charting Careers not only mentors underserved Annapolis young people. It also awards scholarships to help them reach their goals. In this its inaugural year as an independent program, it invested close to $4,000 in local teens.
Charting Careers began as an educational and mentoring program for Box of Rain, a nonprofit founded in 2003, to bring kids onto the water each summer. Now as its own nonprofit, Charting Careers continues to help youth envision their futures and achieve pathways to independence and career success. Its mission is to break the cycle of poverty in Annapolis by working individually with kids and their families, while also addressing systemic inequities leading to poverty.
Just Kazee and Shaniya Gray were awarded $1,500 scholarships, Kazee for tuition at Anne Arundel Community College, where he will pursue a degree in Game Design and Coding Skills, and Gray toward her sophomore year at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, where she will continue her Business Administration studies. Armani Queen was awarded $500 to cover the cost of attending the College Application Camp at The Key School.
Their academic scholarships are made possible by the JoshuaOneNine Scholarship Fund, which must go directly to college or career access, including all fees that are barriers to education or job obtainment. Charting Careers students ages 16 and above may apply. Application is reviewed by the organization’s board of directors.
Two more students were awarded Goal Fund scholarships, financial support to remove a barrier to a personal goal developed through Charting Careers. The Goal Fund is available to all middle and high schools students in the program.
This year’s winners are Brandon Quintanilla for his summer math class at Anne Arundel Community College and Sarah Ramaloussa for a digital art tablet to help her with her studies of Digital Interactive Media at CAT South.
Charting Careers begins with third graders behind in reading and follows its kids through early adulthood. From the elementary-level Read to Succeed, kids transition into the fifth- through seventh-grade Discover Your Story, identifying their strengths and exploring their own interests.
By eighth grade, Charting Careers kids are officially matched with a mentor and begin Create Your Story. Throughout this high school program, students get continued individualized academic guidance, life skills workshops and college and career counseling to help them navigate their paths toward graduation and beyond.