Polk County Public Schools, Community
Founded in 1995 in response to the need for a scholarship program that provides more than just financial assistance to recipients, Take Stock in Children is an award-winning program that provides scholarships, mentors, and hope for a better future to Florida's most deserving low-income, at-risk children. A public-private partnership, this school-based mentoring organization has positively affected the lives of more than 12,000 children since 1995. Scholarships are purchased through the Florida Prepaid College Foundation, which provides matching funds to double the impact of scholarship donations to Take Stock in Children. The volunteer adults make Take Stock in Children the only statewide scholarship program in Florida to provide trained, committed mentors in addition to tuition assistance. Mentors represent every segment of society, and experience life-altering relationships with their student mentees.
The promise of a college scholarship is only a single motivating factor in the lives of these young people. Upon entering the Take Stock in Children program, students are matched with trained, caring adult mentors who meet with them once a week to help with academics, provide college and career guidance, and strengthen their social skills. Mentors provide students with valuable guidance, motivation, and life lessons that students carry with them beyond grade school and into college and the workforce. Students compare their mentors to friends and role models, and most feel that their attitudes toward school and the future have improved since developing a relationship with a caring adult volunteer.