Five Oglethorpe County seniors will be county's first graduates of scholarship program
Charlie Roberts and her family go out to eat every year on Oct. 18. However, it’s not to celebrate her birthday or another family event.
It’s the day in 2019 that Roberts, then an eighth-grader, received the news she was one of Oglethorpe County’s first REACH scholarship recipients.
“My dad has never been to college, and my mom, she had scraped together money to go to college,” said Roberts, who is now a senior at Oglethorpe County High School. “They're so proud.”
Roberts and four other seniors make up the county’s first graduating class of REACH scholars. Selected in eighth grade, these REACH scholars are preparing to apply for colleges, where they will use their $10,000 scholarship.
“No one from my family that I live with has gone to college,” REACH scholar Yanet Alvarez said. “They thought that it was going to be a huge help for me, being the first in the family to go to college.”
Students chosen through the nomination and interview process demonstrate academic potential and financial need, as outlined by the REACH Georgia program founded in 2012 and now present in all 180 public Georgia school systems.
The fifth cohort of REACH scholars will get the same good news this fall, with REACH signing day at 9 a.m. Nov. 10 after the fall selection process, said Rosanna Ames, Oglethorpe County Schools communications coordinator.
Other than those shared characteristics, the students’ interests and experiences vary as they work to maintain the grades necessary to receive their scholarships.
- Roberts ran track and wants to be a registered nurse, like her mom.
- Alvarez also wants to go into the medical field and has enjoyed being a part of HOSA, the student organization for Future Health Professionals.
- Michaela Watkins aims to be a real estate broker, like her uncle, and participates in Future Business Leaders of America.
- Landon Quarles, a wrestler since seventh grade, hopes to attend the University of North Georgia and transfer to the University of Georgia.
- Bryan Hernandez, who wants to get his electrical license, has been the saxophone section leader in marching band.
“(Getting the scholarship) made me care more about school, and so I just pushed myself to try more,” Hernandez said. “It led me to try harder in my ninth-grade year, and then that led to me getting invited to Beta Club, which I've been in for three years.”
The students also benefited from mentorship throughout high school. The seniors visited the Dahlonega campus of the University of North Georgia with former senior REACH adviser Mollie Cole and are paired with community mentors and advising support.
“I think getting the REACH scholarship, it helped me be more outgoing. I was president for FCCLA in eighth grade (after I got the scholarship),” Alvarez said.
Roberts said her mentor, Christi Fordyce, has her Subway order on a sticky note in her purse. Fordyce will bring lunch to the school to talk with Roberts about her grades, family and advice.
Nearly four years after their initial selection, the REACH scholars have also found friendship with each other, celebrating birthdays or catching up in the hallway and at monthly meetings.
“I just remember all five of us walking into (the) office, and I never thought that we'd be the ones who would be on this journey together,” Hernandez said. “Something was in the air that day.”
When the students heard the good news, they called their loved ones from the school. Quarles called his grandparents.
“They were the most excited about it,” he said. “I remember my grandma; she was crying because she was so happy.”
Donate to REACH
For each $2,000 that Oglethorpe County raises, the REACH Georgia program matches $8,000 to complete one student scholarship. Donations can be made to https://donate.reachgafoundation.org/ or sent to @OCREACH via Venmo.