PADUCAH, KY- The Rotary Club of Paducah is making a deal with area students from Paducah and McCracken County Schools to pay for their associate degrees.  iSurf Paducah spoke with Ed Hely, Chairman of the Regional Education Assistance Program at the Paducah Rotary Club, to find out more about the scholarship opportunity.

The program was spear headed by Rotarians Dwane Tucker and Ken Wheeler. It has been in the making for two years now.

“We kind of patterned it after some other similar ventures with some other Rotary clubs around the country. The two that are closest to here are Hopkinsville and Madisonville, that are doing the same thing,” said Hely.

The program is offered to any 8th grade students in Paducah and McCracken County who wish to sign up. However, the students must sign a contract saying they agree to maintain a 2.5 GPA through high school, have 95% attendance and no discipline problems. If these requirements are met, the Community Scholarship Program will pay for the kids to receive an Associate’s Degree at West Kentucky Community and Technical College.

To keep the scholarship once they are at WKCTC the students must meet certain guidelines as well. They have to keep at 2.5 GPA, complete at least 12 hours per semester and they are required to apply for any grants or scholarships they may be eligible for, after which the scholarship program will provide the difference.

In 2007, 27% of graduating seniors from the city and county schools didn't attend college. “We’re hoping to bring [that] number down to as close to zero as we can,” Hely said.

“We’re excited about what it’s going to do for the community,” he said “We think it will be something that will attract industry to Paducah, by helping to educate our workforce. There’s lots of Associate Degrees that the community college offers that fit right into our existing industries and hopefully for new ones.”

The public-private partnership forged by the Community Scholarship Program has reached its goal of securing $500,000 annually for the next five years of operation for the program. They plan on launching an endowment campaign in the future to help sustain the program.

In addition to Rotary, the supporting partners for the program are WKCTC, McCracken County Schools, Paducah Independent Schools, St. Mary Schools, Paducah Junior College, Inc., the City of Paducah, the McCracken County Fiscal Court, Paducah Bank and Trust, Computer Services, Inc., Paducah Power System, Paducah & Louisville Railway, Community Financial Services Bank, Geotech Engineering Inc. and Paducah Area Chamber of Commerce Business Education Partnership.

To find out more about the Community Scholarship Program, contact the Paducah Rotary Club at (270) 442- 3418.

Kelsi Norrington- iSurf Paducah

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