CABOT — Cabot School District teachers and school employees are helping to pay for some students’ college education.
A little more than three years ago, a light bulb lit up over Dwight Daugherty’s head. Daugherty had an idea to figure out a way to help students who don’t qualify for financial aid get scholarships.
“I had a niece who came through the school system here, and she got a scholarship that changed her life,” Daugherty said.
“I wanted to target the ‘gap’ kids from families that make too much for aid but not enough to pay for school.” The thing that makes this scholarship unique is that school employees contribute to the fund through a payroll deduction.
“All of the scholarships provided to our students are great, but the Cabot employee scholarship is very special,” said Tony Thurman, Cabot School District superintendent. “The employee scholarship represents the commitment of our faculty and staff to provide financial support to our very own students to ensure they have a great start as they continue their education after high school.”
Daugherty said the average monthly contribution is $8.80. There are 160 employees who contribute a total of $1,408 each month, and that includes administrators and classified employees.
“That’s a hamburger,” Daugherty said about the amount of a monthly contribution, “and it’s tax deductible.”
Thurman praised Daugherty for the idea for employees to contribute to the scholarship.
“Participation from our staff has been great, and we intend to continue increasing the amount that we are able to provide,” Thurman said.“It’s important to remember that all of our employees play a great part in the program, including our classified staff members. It takes everyone working together to provide such a significant contribution to the foundation each year.” The Cabot Scholarship Foundation began about 20 years ago with Carolyn Park and a single $100 scholarship.
Park is still involved in the scholarship foundation board, which also oversees awarding the employee scholarship.
Daugherty said the first employee scholarship was only $800, but that was because the collection for the fund was only in February and March of 2009.
The first employee scholarship recipient was Jordan Murdoch, who graduated in 2009.
“Jordan is about to enter his fourth year of college and has two years left before he graduates with a doctorate in pharmacy,” Daugherty said.
“He attends the St. Louis College of Pharmacy, and he is one of the finest young men I have ever known.
In 2010, the employees awarded about $13,000, and in 2011, $17,000.
“My goal is to get it up to $30,000,” Daugherty said.
“We have donated approximately $40,000 in the first 38 months. … In conjunction with the Cabot Scholarship Foundation, locally we gave out over $65,000 last year to Cabot seniors.”
He said the requirements are simple: The student must score 19 or more on the ACT and have at least a 2.75 GPA.
“We really want the pool of candidates to be inclusive rather than exclusive, and we make an effort to target those families whose children may not score well enough to get a state or university scholarship and whose income is just enough that they don’t qualify for financial aid,” he said.
“In addition, we designate at least two scholarships for vocational trades, not just a four-year degree. The money is given in two parts, half for each semester. We generally try to give $1,500 for each scholarship, as the cost of schooling has risen, where it takes a significant amount to actually make an impact.”
Students can pick up scholarship applications in their school counselor’s office.
The foundation takes applications beginning in January and awards scholarships in March.
For more information or to donate to the scholarship fund, call Calvin Aldridge at (501) 843-6515.
Staff writer Jeanni Brosius can be reached at (501) 244-4307 or jbrosius@arkansasonline.com.
Three Rivers, Pages 119 on 05/13/2012