Westbury students recruit peers to scholarship program

An aspiring mechanical engineer, Brandon Brathwaite earns A's in most of his classes, which include honors-level physics, geometry and French II, and he has his sights set on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

So the Westbury High School freshman, 14, who was at the top of his eighth-grade class at Westbury Middle School, did not need any persuading Saturday morning when a volunteer from Project GRAD Long Island knocked on the door of his family's home, asking Brandon and his father, Jeffrey, to sign a contract automatically enrolling them in a scholarship program.

"This guarantees me that I can get an education," said Brandon, whose parents both have college degrees. Through a Project GRAD program offered for incoming freshmen, the teen already attended a monthlong math and science program during the summer at the Cradle of Aviation Museum in East Garden City.

In the nonprofit group's second annual "Walk for Success," 100 volunteers visited 296 Westbury High freshmen Saturday, with the goal of having them sign up with the program.

They met at 8:45 a.m. at Westbury Middle School before dispersing in teams of three and four to talk to the teens and their parents about college readiness and scholarships.

Students who sign a contract with GRAD - which stands for "Graduation Really Achieves Dreams" - have to meet certain requirements: attend two rigorous summer institutes in math and English held on local college campuses, maintain a 3.0 grade point average or an 81 cumulative point average, and graduate from Westbury High within four years.

Students then are guaranteed college scholarships totaling up to $6,000 as long as they maintain a 2.8 GPA while in college. The program gets money for the scholarships from the federal government and its own fundraising.

Project GRAD Long Island, which partners with the Westbury school district, is one of 13 sites serving 134,000 low-income students throughout the country, and GRAD scholars have attended more than 100 institutions of higher education.

"We're the super group, we're the A team," Hubert Keen, president of Farmingdale State College, said about his group, which included Jackie Shriman, 21, a senior at the college. Of the seven homes that Keen's team visited, three families signed up.

Shriman, who is from Westchester County and also volunteered last year, said she wanted to help students because no one really informed her about scholarships or about keeping her grades up when she was a high school freshman.
Westbury High School Principal Manny Arias said 86 percent of last year's seniors graduated.

The students' backgrounds range from low-income to middle class, with many whose families hail from Latin America, as well as Haiti and other Caribbean nations, Arias said. There are about 1,100 students in the high school, according to the state Education Department.

At least one student the volunteers spoke with Saturday was not enthusiastic about the idea of college.

William De Paz, 14, looked at the contract several times and signed it only after Kimberly Arias, director of programs for Project GRAD Long Island, eagerly told him about the benefits of a college degree. Kimberly Arias is not related to the high school's principal.

"I don't like to study," William said shyly, adding that he likes to play soccer. On De Paz's contract, Arias noted that he likes the sport and promised she will follow up with him.
Project GRAD Long Island's first presence on the Island was in the Roosevelt school district in 2003, but that ended after several years, Arias and a spokeswoman for the program said. Ronald O. Ross, a former state-appointed superintendent of Roosevelt schools, ended the district's participation.