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Jacksonville Promise is working with Lincoln Land Community College to help students attend College for Kids, covering tuition for families in need.<\/p>\n
Tara Moore\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
Jacksonville Promise is working to help elementary and middle school students get an early\u00a0preview of college life by working with Lincoln Land Community College to help cover tuition costs\u00a0for its College for Kids program.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Charles Sheaff, co-founder of the Jacksonville Promise scholarship program, said that while the program is in the early stages, he has the goal to help provide the opportunity for students to participate in the College for Kids, regardless of their ability to pay for tuition.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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“We have been trying to find a way to reach the underprivileged students and help stimulate an interest in postsecondary learning,” Sheaff said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The College for Kids program and similar offerings give students a fun way to experience a college campus while learning. Lincoln Land Community College in Jacksonville is offering 13 summer courses in total for students across first through eighth grade.<\/p>\n
Each camp is a four-day course and costs $149, focusing on subjects from American Sign Language to engineering.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sheaff said Jacksonville Promise wants to help cover that cost for students whose families cannot afford tuition.<\/p>\n
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“We are working with the Jacksonville Promise board and Lincoln Land to underwrite the tuition for kids who want\u00a0to take these course,” Sheaff said. “We haven’t identified how we will determine need yet.”<\/p>\n
Sheaff said details are being ironed out, but he expects to have them finalized in the coming weeks. He said underwriting tuition for these courses is a first step in encouraging students to pursue education after high school.<\/p>\n
“I hope that over the course of the next 10 to 15 years we have more kids showing an interest in postsecondary education,” Sheaff said. “We want them to have that early exposure.”<\/p>\n
He said he is also currently working with Illinois College to do something similar for its programs.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Jacksonville Promise provides scholarships to students who attend college at Illinois College and Lincoln Land Community College. Last year, the organization supported more than 100 scholarships.<\/p>\n
“One thing I hope is to have kids become attached to the campuses and get more kids to think about going to college here locally,” Sheaff said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Classes available in Jacksonville:<\/p>\n
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