All Aboard the S.S. Scholarship: Scholarship Shawnee Mission’s 2019 program outcome

The Shawnee Mission Education Foundation (SMEF) launched the new Scholarship Shawnee Mission program for the 2019-20 school year on July 15. As of Sept. 11, a collective $680,811,000 in scholarship offers have been awarded to over 1,000 Shawnee Mission students through the program.

Scholarship Shawnee Mission gives parents the choice to place their students into the program through Skyward. By doing so, the student’s test scores and grades are shared with the 27 colleges that currently partner with the program — most of them located in Kansas and Missouri. The colleges then decide which students will receive scholarships based on their own criteria for the information shared.

There is no application process to enter the program, parents simply answer whether or not they would like their child to be enrolled — their permission being the only requirement. Currently 89 percent of district students in grades 7-12 are in the program. However, they will only hand out scholarships to seniors this year. Underclassmen will remain in the program and have their grades and scores shared until they graduate unless requested to be removed. 

SMEF announced the success of the program during their annual fall breakfast on Sept. 5. They recognized two seniors who received scholarships through the program — Jetzel Chavira from SM West totaled $710,430 from 18 different schools, and Tijesu Ono from SM North totaled $886,250 from 18 different schools as well. 

“I’m grateful for the opportunities that they’ve opened for me,” Chavira said. “I kind of had an idea of what I wanted to do. But now I can explore my options and be more open about things career wise.”

1,598 Shawnee Mission seniors are currently signed up, but not all have received scholarships. The seniors who did qualify for scholarship offers find out in October on their school’s selected visit date which has not yet been announced.

According to the SMEF Executive Director Kimberly Hinkle, the program is designed to “turn the tables” on the college admissions process. The program cultivates the idea that athletes are not the only students that can be recruited — any student can have colleges come to them.

 “We want colleges coming to [our students] saying, ‘We want you, here’s what we’re offering,’ and then our students get to decide where to go instead of the other way around,” Hinkle said.

Hinkle says the program is a unique concept to the nation, as not many districts have actively applied the idea. She believes the success behind Shawnee Mission’s approach comes from the amount of attention being put into it.

“It’s the only [program] we’ve heard [of] on this scale,” Hinkle said. “And our colleges are telling us the same thing, too.”

SMEF hired former KCK administrator Edward Marquez as the program officer for Scholarship Shawnee Mission. He works full time as of July 1, arranging the data files of student information and communicating with colleges.

“[Marquez has] done a fantastic job,” SMEF board member Chuck Battey said. “He came out of the gates running. Just how quickly he was able to pull this thing together, he’s really only had three months to get this initial block of more than 25 colleges to agree to make these very specific donations or scholarship offers.”

Marquez shared his experience with the board last semester through explaining the scholarship program he set up with KCK on a smaller scale which he believed would also work well in Shawnee Mission. After the board agreed on the idea, they voted on setting aside enough of their reserves to cover the costs of having a full-time employee who can make sure the program is successful. 

Battey says the program has provided the district with opportunities for students who may not be as affluent.

“I think we sometimes don’t realize that college is not affordable for many families, even in our own district,” Battey said. “This program could make the difference between some kids going to college, and not going to college at all.”

Looking forward, they want to expand to more colleges on a national level within the next few years and provide scholarship opportunities to students before their senior year as well. Hinkle says they also hope to bring in non-traditional college opportunities, such as going into trades or directly into the workforce, to reach out to students where college might not be part of their plan.

“The colleges see it is beneficial to be able to impact and recruit some students that might never have considered that college,” Hinkle said. “Our students will see the impact from maybe having options put in front of them that they hadn’t considered.”

*featured image courtesy of SMSD