Uma Ramiah Photo
Dar’Ron Brown, 15, wore a sharp dark suit and listened attentively as an official from Yale-New Haven Hospital (YNHH) announced a $2 million grant to New Haven Promise: Partnership, a support program aimed at getting more city kids like him into local colleges.
“It’s important for students to know that someone’s in their corner, pushing them towards college,” said Brown, reacting to the news. A freshman at Metropolitan Business Academy on Water Street, where the press conference was held, he’s already thinking about colleges himself: University of Connecticut, University of New Haven and Southern Connecticut State.
“So I think this is really great.”
Wells Fargo bank joined the hospital, donating $300,000 to New Haven Promise: Partnership. It’s part of a program called New Haven Promise, that has created a fund to pay for New Haven high school students to go to in-state college, provided they meet certain requirements, like good grades and community service.
New Haven Promise: Partnership aims to prepare students to apply to the scholarship by encouraging a culture of “college-going.” Through an organization called College Summit, tutoring and mentoring programs will roll out in every New Haven public school, teaching students how to embrace a college focused culture from a young age.
YNHH CEO Marna Borgstrom emphasized the hospital’s commitment to improving public health in the city. “People who come from a stable home and come out with a good education will make better decisions about their health,” she said. “And we need to have a workforce that’s educated, competent and committed to health care themselves.”
Mayor John DeStefano said that while the original New Haven Promise: Scholarship was the first important step in getting kids into higher education, that program alone would leave many kids behind.
“That’s what this partnership is all about,” he said. “We will expect all students to change their aspirations and goals, from kindergarten age and up. We want them to change them from thinking, ‘Will I go to college,’ to ‘Where will I go to college?’”
It’s about creating a new normal, he said.
Jeremy Jamison, 14 (left) and Eric Daniels Jr., 17, a freshman and junior at Metropolitan Business Academy, admitted that they weren’t eligible for the scholarship: they both live in Hamden.
“I think the scholarship is a great opportunity, but I feel a little left out,” said Daniels. “Because I go to school in New Haven too, and this is where I put all my hard work in.”
But he’s still applying to be a peer leader with the College Summit program. After a training workshop at Yale, he’ll be asked to influence other kids at his school to think seriously about college.
“So it’s good that they have this part of the program too, for those of us who can’t get the scholarship,” Daniels said. “I still get something from the city to enhance my knowledge.”