Florence Lowden Miller Educational Grants
Programs to Address the Special Needs of Urban High School Students
Building Your Future...
For many Chicago high school students, the tools for successful college application and financial aid are just not available. Often students enter high school uninformed about the world of continuing education. Many do not have the support of their families or the intense counseling needed to encourage them to strive to succeed and prepare themselves for the challenges of college. For these students, The George M. Pullman Educational Foundation developed Building Your Future (BYF) - a pilot program for early intervention, guidance and counseling that has helped send dozens of young women and men off to college
Starting in September 1993, the program enrolled 75 freshmen in each of two consecutive classes at Chicago's Fenger High School. During their four years in high school, full-time on-site BYF counselors provided BYF students with individual and group career counseling, academic skills enhancement, exposure to the post-high school academic and professional world, and preparation for the college application process, including campus visits and intensive workshops.
BYF helped students and their parents identify and apply for financial assistance and then went the extra step - providing last-dollar grants from the Pullman Foundation's Florence Lowden Miller Award program, named in honor of George M. Pullman's granddaughter, who served more than 50 years as director and president of the Pullman Educational Foundation (and its predecessor, the Pullman Free School of Manual Training).
Pullman staff continue to monitor each student's progress - including those who have had to withdraw temporarily due to family or financial factors - and continue to support them with frequent phone conversations, individual meetings, annual group reunions, and the spark to keep them motivated even when it is challenging to stay in college. Last year, several BYF scholars received bachelor's or associate's degrees; several more are preparing to graduate this year. Foundation staff meet regularly with staff of college readiness programs operating across the Chicago area to share information
If you are a current BYF student, please go to the Participant Log-In page to access your application materials and award information.
Saturday
Scholars...
In recent years, the Foundation found an additional avenue for encouraging the educational aspirations of Chicago-area students. Florence Lowden Miller Grants were made available to students participating in the Saturday Scholars program (sponsored by J. P. Morgan Chase & Co.), where each year students from four Chicago public elementary schools (Goldblatt, Herzl, Mayo and Sabin) are invited to engage in a student-mentor relationship with J. P. Morgan Chase employees for their four years of high school. The mentors are all volunteers who work with the students every other Saturday during the school year. When it comes time for these students to enter college, they are now given the opportunity to apply for a Pullman Foundation grant.
Academic performance is not a criterion for selecting these awardees, although as with the Foundation's other awards, students are expected to demonstrate progress. Saturday Scholar awards are renewable, depending on the student's financial need form year to year.
If you are a current Saturday Scholar receiving aid from Pullman, please proceed to the Participant Log-In for application materials and special features.
What are the qualities of a Pullman Scholar? |
