KALAMAZOO (WKZO) — As the Tenth anniversary of the Kalamazoo Promise approaches this November, a series of events and celebrations are being planned to mark the occasion.
The idea is to celebrate the successes, and promote the work that is still ahead to maximize the potential of the unique opportunity.
So far The Promise organization, which is a separate entity from the Kalamazoo School District, has issued nearly 4000 scholarships with over a thousand post secondary degrees and certificates earned and over 60-million dollars spent.
School Trustees still make a special point of thanking the anonymous donors who are funding the multi-million dollar one-of-a-kind scholarship program at every one of their meetings.
Beginning next month, there will be a series of discussions on how to remove other barriers to higher education for Promise scholars.
They are planning a community wide celebration in August, and a national PromiseNet conference in November with representatives from the four dozen other communities who have found ways to fund scholarship programs.
It will lead up to a big event in Mid-November on the actual 10th anniversary of the school board meeting when The Promise was announced.
It’s a grim task to imagine what Kalamazoo might be like without it.