About Evanston scholars
Evanston Scholars: Empowering Underserved Students to Achieve Their Dreams
Evanston Scholars is a non-profit organization that is dedicated to improving college access and success for underserved students in Evanston, Illinois. The organization was founded in 2008 by a group of community leaders who recognized the need for more support for low-income and first-generation college students.
The mission of Evanston Scholars is to empower these students to achieve their dreams by providing them with the resources, guidance, and support they need to succeed in college and beyond. The program starts with the college admissions process and continues until graduation, helping students navigate every step of their academic journey.
One of the unique aspects of Evanston Scholars is its focus on building relationships between mentors and mentees. Each student is paired with a mentor who provides one-on-one guidance throughout their time in the program. Mentors are volunteers from the community who have experience in higher education or related fields.
In addition to mentorship, Evanston Scholars offers a range of other services designed to help students succeed academically and personally. These include academic tutoring, test preparation classes, career exploration workshops, financial aid counseling, leadership development programs, and more.
The impact that Evanston Scholars has had on its participants has been significant. Since its founding over a decade ago, the organization has helped hundreds of low-income and first-generation college students achieve their dreams of higher education. Many have gone on to attend top universities across the country or pursue successful careers after graduation.
One example is Jocelyn Rodriguez-Mendoza who joined Evanston scholars as a high school junior when she was struggling academically due to personal challenges at home. With support from her mentor through weekly meetings at school or coffee shops around town Jocelyn improved her grades significantly which led her being accepted into Northwestern University where she graduated with honors degree in psychology last year (2020).
Another example is Jose Garcia who joined as an eighth-grader when he didn't know what he wanted out life but knew he wanted something different than his parents' lives working long hours at factories without much pay or benefits . Through his involvement with Evanston scholars Jose discovered his passion for engineering which led him being accepted into University Illinois Urbana-Champaign where he graduated last year (2020) with degree mechanical engineering .
These success stories are just two examples among many others that demonstrate how powerful this program can be for underserved youth seeking opportunities beyond what they may have thought possible before joining this program.
If you're interested in supporting this important work or learning more about how you can get involved as either volunteer mentor or donor please visit evanstonscholars.org today!