FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

Four FLY Students Win Glow Scholarships

Scholarships Based on Merit and Successful Completion of Financial Education Courses 

MILPITAS, Calif., August 1, 2007– Fresh Lifelines for Youth (FLY), an award-winning program that works to reduce juvenile crime and incarceration through legal education, mentoring, and leadership training, announced today that four of its clients have won scholarships from the Glow Foundation, a provider of financial education, mentoring, and unmet need scholarships for high-potential students from under-resourced communities. The Glow scholarships will help the four students meet the financial requirements of college, in addition to other financial aid and scholarship sources. 

FLY clients who were awarded the scholarships included graduating seniors Angelina Gallardo and Peter Sok, who will attend San Jose City College; Michelle Urmeneta, who will attend Evergreen Valley College; and Pauline Brown who won the scholarship as a high school junior and will decide on a college during the next year. 

Applications for Glow scholarships are open to all FLY clients who were graduating seniors or who had completed their GED requirements. Applicants must also complete financial education courses, a rigorous financial analysis of their college budgetary needs, and apply for additional financial aid and scholarship sources to qualify for a Glow scholarship. 

“These students have transformed their lives to become positive community leaders,” said Aila Malik, acting executive director of FLY. “They demonstrate true commitment to their futures, and we are thrilled that they have achieved this important milestone. We look forward to watching them achieve their potential over the next few years.” 

The Glow Foundation offers “unmet need” college scholarships to high-potential students from under-resourced communities, helping them bridge the gap between the financing needed to attend college, and that which their families can provide. Unlike many scholarship programs that limit themselves to monetary grants, the Glow Foundation focuses first on providing students with the tools to proactively plan and seek the financial resources they need for college.  

FLY operates law programs for juvenile offenders on probation, high-risk youth in local alternative high schools, and as prevention courses in middle schools. The organization also offers a Leadership Training Program for youth who attend the law course and need additional help to develop their positive leadership skills and graduate from high school.  This yearlong program includes a three-day wilderness retreat that focuses on leadership, community activism, and monthly meetings where youth design and provide community service. Youth receive a case manager who helps them set and achieve education, vocation, and health goals. Approximately 85 percent of youth do not re-offend during this yearlong program, and over 90 percent of the high school seniors graduate or earn their GEDS.  

FLY programs cost-effectively prevent crime. Incarcerating one youth for one year in California’s prison system currently costs $71,000 and has a 25-percent success rate. FLY’s yearlong Leadership Program costs approximately $7,000 per youth and has kept 85 percent of participating youth from going back on probation for a new crime during the program. FLY has received a national grant award for best practices, a national grant award for innovation, the City of San Jose Human Rights Award, and each of the past five years has been ranked as one of the top violence prevention programs in the City of San Jose by outside evaluators.  
 

About FLY

Founded in 1998, FLY provides at-risk and disadvantaged youth with vital information regarding the decisions they make in their lives. The organization offers mentoring, leadership skills development, and legal education to reduce juvenile crime and incarceration. FLY has helped thousands of youth learn important life skills and avoid becoming inmates of the criminal justice system. For more information, please visit www.flyprogram.org.

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