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Schools

Tropicana Field party celebrates successful futures

By RITA FARLOW
Published December 11, 2006

Dreams can come true.

That was the message Robbie Colwell imparted to his peers last week at the 15th annual Doorways Celebration at Tropicana Field.

"Doorways has helped me keep focused," Robbie told the crowd of about 4,000 students, educators, sponsors and mentors. "My scholarship has made my impossible dream a very possible reality."

The eighth-grader at Azalea Middle School said he used to think he would not be able to go to college because of the expense.

"I have two younger siblings, and my parents work hard to provide for us," he said. "Saving money for college isn't possible."

Robbie said he hopes to attend the University of Florida with his Doorways Scholarship, which will pay for two years at a Florida community college and two years at a state public university, or technical school training. The program runs on donations that are matched by the state through the Florida Prepaid College Plan.

Students must sign a contract vowing to keep their grades up and stay out of trouble. In exchange, they get a mentor and a four-year scholarship for college tuition or technical school training.

"It really takes both. It takes a connection with a positive role model to keep them on track, and they need to know they have the scholarship to begin to talk about it and begin seeing it in their future," said Mike Weinstein, president of Take Stock in Children, a partner of the Pinellas Education Foundation, which administers the Doorways program.

Rich Engwall, senior vice president of the foundation, said the scholarship program has been immensely successful. Last year, 97 percent of seniors with Doorways scholarships graduated with their class, Engwall said. In comparison, about 53 percent of Florida high school students that enter the ninth grade graduate on time.

Nina Tran, 21, told the students Wednesday how her mentor helped her achieve her educational goals. "I learned that nothing I thought too difficult would be out of reach."

Tran, a 2003 Clearwater High graduate, is now a senior at Eckerd College, majoring in pre-med.

After Tran's speech, the Soulful Arts Dancers took the stage for a high-energy number that got the crowd clapping with the music. Performances were also given by the Boca Ciega High School Jazz Ensemble and the Osceola High School Show Choir. At the end of the celebration, students were treated to a surprise miniconcert by "Alex M.," from the hit MTV reality show Laguna Beach.

A poignant moment of the day came when the second annual Joana Cruz Memorial Doorways Scholarship was presented to Gabrielle DeHoyos, 15, a Northeast High freshman. Cruz, a 2003 Northeast High graduate and Doorways scholar, was fatally shot at a RadioShack in St. Petersburg in November 2004. Cruz's mother, Nancy Vazquez, made the presentation and advised kids to stay in school.

Several students from Oak Grove Middle in Clearwater said the importance of education has always been stressed to them but that their families don't have the means to send them to college.

"My dad died when I was in kindergarten, so I thought I wouldn't have the opportunity to go to college," said seventh-grader Elvedina Majdankic.

Engwall said that situations like Elvedina's are far too common.

"There are too many stories like that - parents have passed on, parents are incarcerated, children are being raised by foster parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles," he said. "There would be little hope of going on to college or technical school if a program like this didn't exist."

[Last modified December 11, 2006, 06:59:44]