This month, College Now received word that the organization won 12 21st Century Community Learning Center grants! These grants support College Now's impact! program, which provides after-school ACT/SAT/PSAT prep, career guidance, and college visits to students in communities across Northeast Ohio.

Three grants awarded to College Now are new five-year grants and will support impact! programming at Euclid High School, Garfield Heights High School, and Warrensville Heights Middle School. Nine grants are renewals for College Now's work in Cleveland Public Library Main Branch; Wellington High School; City Life Center; Clearview High School; Cleveland Public Library MLK Jr. Branch; Boys & Girls Club of Cleveland; Longfellow Middle School; Warrensville Heights High School; and Lorain High School.

This fall, impact! will serve students virtually, and the team has been hard at work creating a new, online test prep and college and career exposure curriculum for students, building off the virtual work done with students this spring. These new grants will enable impact! to reach more students than ever before and grow the program's footprint across Northeast Ohio.

To learn more about impact!, visit College Now's website.

On Wednesday, August 26, the College Now Mentoring Program kicked off its tenth year as more than 250 mentors and their freshmen students met for the first time at the annual kick-off event, sponsored this year by the Nordson Corporation Foundation.

Traditionally an in-person event, this year's kick-off went virtual and offered mentors and students a chance to meet in a virtual one-on-one meeting, followed by a video address for all attendees with pre-recorded messages from College Now Greater Cleveland, the Nordson Corporation Foundation, and a mentor/student pair from the program.

"This is the tenth year of our program, and we know this year will be a very different academic, social, and emotional year for our students as they adapt to entirely new ways of learning and campus life amid COVID-19," said College Now CEO Lee Friedman. "Even though their mentors will not have had those same experiences during their college years, their support and guidance during this unprecedented educational challenge will be critical for our students."

The College Now Mentoring Program began with a small cohort of scholarship recipients in 2011, with the goal being to scale the program to serve every College Now scholarship recipient by the 2016-2017 school year. The Program reached that goal, and has continued to grow, with this year marking the most students ever in the program, as mentors are paired not only with College Now scholarship recipients, but with Say Yes Cleveland scholarship recipients, as well.

This year is the second year of Say Yes Cleveland scholarships being awarded and the second cohort of Say Yes scholarship recipients being paired with their mentors. Cleveland is the only Say Yes chapter to make mentoring a requirement for the scholarship.

While the coronavirus pandemic will make traditional in-person meetings challenging this year, the College Now Mentoring Program is unique in that the bulk of communication is done through an online platform. Mentors and students communicate several times a month via this platform, using a curriculum developed by College Now, and they are asked to meet in person three times every year – though, “in person” can mean FaceTiming or meeting via Zoom. The time commitment is minimal, but the impact is significant, as the program boasts a 93% retention rate from students’ freshman to sophomore year, and a 70% graduation rate for mentored students. Cleveland’s business community has supported this program, too, with mentors representing more than 500 local employers participating in the program.

College Now would like to thank the Nordson Corporation Foundation for their support of the College Now Mentoring Program and the Kick-off event. You can read more about this year's Kick-off event in this story from WKYC Studios.

As school starts up again this fall, College Now would like to remind students and families that College Now advisors are still accessible and available to students, even if your school is starting the year remotely or using a hybrid in-person/remote model.

College Now advisors are available to help with all aspects of the postsecondary planning process and, this fall, are prepared to help students and families with everything from participating in virtual college tours to applying for financial aid and taking standardized tests. Advisors can meet with students on virtual platforms and are available to talk via email, a phone call, or even a text message.

To get started, students and families are asked to complete the form here so College Now advisors have the most up-to-date contact and education information to most effectively serve you this year. Students can reach out to their College Now advisor with any questions or concerns or email info@collegenowgc.org to be connected to their advisor.

STUDENTS AND FAMILIES: We know connectivity is now more important than ever. We'd like to share the flyers linked here from AT&T with additional information on their company's promise during COVID-19. Please also review our website for additional resources for connectivity, remote learning, and more.

The Cleveland Browns Foundation, in partnership with College Now Greater Cleveland, has made it their mission to help local high-school students pursue their dreams of a college education through the Marion Motley Scholarship Program.

Applications are being accepted now through September 30th, 2020.

The Cleveland Browns Foundation Marion Motley Scholarship Program is an exciting opportunity for a motivated student whose long-term career goal could include working in education or for a professional sports organization in any of a variety of capacities.

The Cleveland Browns Foundation and College Now annually seek two deserving students who are on track to graduate from high school in 2020 to receive a four-year, renewable scholarship in the amount of $2,500 per year. Now in its tenth year, the partnership between the Cleveland Browns Foundation and College Now has awarded more than $280,000 of scholarship funds to 26 students.

The Cleveland Browns Foundation Marion Motley Scholarship was named after one of the Browns’ 16 Pro Football Hall of Famers, former halfback Marion Motley.

One of the first four African-Americans to integrate professional football in 1946, Motley overcame many obstacles on his way to 3,024 yards and 31 touchdowns in four championship seasons in the AAFC, and another 1,688 yards and eight touchdowns in five years in the NFL. Motley was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1968 and the Cleveland Browns’ Ring of Honor in 2010.

As a reminder, the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections is in need of 6,000 essential workers to ensure a fair, transparent, accurate, and bi-partisan election this November. Click here to learn more about their needs, including how to sign up to be an election worker.