Julia Burke Foundation

- Academic Scholarship -

Students Rising Above

Students Rising Above has evolved into a year round program that supports students in a holistic way for five or more years to ensure they succeed in and graduate from college. Through summer internships, Students Rising Above (SRA) is going one step further by preparing the students’ for success in their chosen career and in life. The 2009 grant provided by The Julia Burke Foundation will help to grow this Summer Program by providing stipends to students in unpaid positions so that SRA can help cover their living expenses; cover travel and associated program costs for students who choose to study abroad; and increase the staff resources dedicated to the Summer Program so that SRA can grow and expand their network of corporate partners.

Previously, The Julia Burke Foundation provided a grant to help fund Advisor salaries, a Summer Internship Coordinator, computers for student workshops, student internships, a medical and dental coordinator for students, an overnight retreat for a new class of 35 students, advisor development, access to a UCSF Adolescent Advisor, and expenses related to student outreach and the new class selection process. In addition, the Foundation has helped pay for Mentors that work with the students and help them adjust to the academic and social challenges associated with college. For many of the students, their Mentor is the only adult who will call them during four years of college. The Foundation also provided computers to help the students meet the demanding technological needs of university life.

Students Rising Above provides low-income Bay Area high School students with the mentoring support, financial assistance, and employment skills they need to achieve their dream of a college education. Started in 1998 by news anchor Wendy Tokuda, the program began as a series of news stories featuring students who were rising above odds of poverty, homelessness, abandonment, and neglect. This Peabody and National Emmy award-winning news program grew into a 501(c)3 nonprofit sending 180 students to colleges across the country including UC Berkeley, Harvard, Stanford, Yale, and more. Pictured left are KPIX 5 Anchorwoman Wendy Tokuda and Sherrice Perry, a Brown University graduate and Students Rising Above Scholar who is currently in law school.

Nearly 100 percent of the selected students are the first in their families to go to college; over 75 percent live below the federal poverty level, and more than half are growing up without parents. SRA’s comprehensive program support results in a graduation success rate of 80 percent—well above the national level.

To learn more about SRA, visit www.studentsrisingabove.org. To view student stories and updates, go to www.cbs5.com/students.

	The Julia Burke Memorial Scholarship Fund The College Preparatory School 6100 Broadway Oakland, California 94618 Contact: Mary O'Neill, Director of Development Phone: 510-652-0111 www.college-prep.org See Eulogy by Jonathan Cowperthwait, Classmate
This fund is enabling other gifted students the opportunity to be members of this wonderful high school community.