Delaware College Scholars program empowers ‘locked out’ students

Twenty-five rising college freshmen celebrated a different kind of graduation on June 17, from the rigorous Delaware College Scholars program.

The program serves 10th–12th-grade students from under-resourced backgrounds, many of whom are the first in their family to attend college. Graduates spent three weeks, three summers in a row, in a residential cohort-based program at St. Andrew’s School in Middletown. The immersive program includes mentorship, help with financial aid and scholarships, college visits, relationship-building and an intensive reading, writing and discussion-based curriculum.

“Delaware College Scholars provides a unique program that empowers first-generation college-bound high school students as well as those traditionally locked out or marginalized by the system. It is a rare asset to our state, and its students are tomorrow’s leaders,” remarked the graduation’s keynote speaker, Delaware State University Provost Dr. Tony Allen.

Ninety-two percent of Delaware College Scholars have gone on to a four-year institution of higher education, compared to 8 percent of Delaware students from low-income families who attend four-year institutions of higher education across the board.

This year’s graduates are:

• Javier Aviles, William Penn High School (U.S. Air Force)
• Derricka Benson, Dickinson High School (Morgan State University)
• Jadyn Brown, Caesar Rodney High School (Salisbury University)
• Sephora Cain, Appoquinimink High School (Washington College)
• Nywel Cheaye, MOT Charter High School(Vassar College)
• Erin Chism, Howard High School of Technology (Neumann University)
• Damien Cook, William Penn High School (Johnson and Wales University)
• Alexis Cope, Mount Pleasant High School (University of Delaware)
• Delvin Doe, Conrad Schools of Science (University of Delaware)
• Jordyn Foster, McKean High School (Temple University)
• Chyna Gibbs, Dover High School (North Carolina A&T)
• Nyra Giles, Laurel High School (University of Delaware)
• Nathaniel Hall, Milford High School (Delaware Technical Community College)
• Ricki Holleger, POLYTECH High School (Delaware State University)
• Aliana Marrero, A.I. duPont High School (University of Delaware)
• Temilade Ogunfadebo, William Penn High School( University of Delaware)
• Simon Ortiz, Middletown High School(Cornell University)
• Erick Ortiz-Rivera, Smyrna High School (Delaware Technical Community College)
• Yesenia Ramirez-Montaño, Cape Henlopen High Scool (U.S. Army)
• Tyler Richardson, Mount Pleasant High School (Delaware College of Art and Design)
• Alexzander Salmorbekov, Concord High School (University of Delaware)
• Mya Spangenberg, Caesar Rodney High School (Washington College)
• Nina Spruill, Middletown High School (University of Delaware)
• Kaliyah Weldin, Dover High School (Wesley College)
• Emountey White, Delcastle Technical High School (Bryn Athyn College)