It was 1998 when a man the community would come to know well spoke at a Key West luncheon at the Casa Marina Resort.
John Padget introduced a promising, but underutilized, college scholarship program in Florida called Take Stock in Children, that aims to let “deserving, low-income youth escape the cycle of poverty through education,” says its website.
The statewide nonprofit had launched three years prior in 1995, but had never been implemented in Monroe County, Padget said, challenging the lunchtime audience to change that. He later put his money where his mouth was when he said his philanthropic foundation would match donations to the scholarship program.
Take Stock in Children identifies students from low-income families in middle school and offers a contract for the student and parents to sign. If the child stays in school, out of trouble and maintains at least a C average, Take Stock will pay tuition for two years at a Florida state college and then two years at a state university.
“Students who have been accepted to a university also have the opportunity to earn a dormitory plan for two years through the Monroe County Education Foundation,” said Chuck Licis, Monroe County’s Take Stock program director.
The scholarships are purchased through the Florida Prepaid College Program that allows all families to start saving for college the day their child is born. Tuition costs are locked in at the rate being charged on the day the family signs up for the program and begins making monthly payments.
Padget’s goal was to provide college scholarships for every eligible student in Monroe County. He began working with the Monroe County Education Foundation and raising money from local donors and organizations to make it happen. And it did.
Each year, middle school students and their parents sign their Take Stock contracts, which are their ticket to a college degree. Students are then assigned volunteer academic mentors from the community who meet with each student for an hour each week.
“Take Stock in Children Monroe fundraises through its lead agency, the Monroe County Education Foundation,” Licis said. “Scholarship donations are matched by the Florida Prepaid College Foundation and are applied towards our annual pledged purchase of Florida Prepaid tuition and dormitory scholarships.
“Students may not graduate completely debt-free with a Take Stock in Children scholarship alone, but the vast majority of our scholars are eligible for additional funding such as Florida Bright Futures, Pell grants and other scholarships to minimize additional out-of-pocket college costs. Rarely do our students rely on loans for college funding,” he said.
Keys Weekly congratulates the 57 Take Stock scholars from the Class of 2021 and introduces a graduate from each of the three high schools below.
CORAL SHORES HIGH SCHOOL
YOENDRY FERRO
By Jim McCarthy
Originally from Cuba, Ferro was 4 years old when he came to the U.S. with his family. Through dedication and hard work, the senior at Coral Shores not only received recognition through the Take Stock program, but he also recently became a U.S. citizen.
Ferro came to the states with his mom, dad, brother and sister in 2007. They’ve lived in the Upper Keys for 14 years. Ferro attended Key Largo School and is now closing out his high school journey at Coral Shores.
A Take Stock program participant since seventh grade, Ferro said the experience helped him understand the workings of college and what it can do for his next phase in a life — a career. Take Stock also gave Ferro vital information about the college search process, which led him to pick the University of Central Florida, where he will study electrical engineering.
In recognition of his work in the classroom, Ferro was recently chosen as Take Stock’s 2021 Outstanding Senior for Monroe County. Ferro was elated to know that all the time and energy put forth in school paid off and that others recognized it. Autumn Hager, Coral Shores teacher and Take Stock success coach, said Ferro is the perfect example of a Take Stock in Children student.
“He is actively involved in several organizations and holds leadership positions in most,” Hager said. “He is my president of the Take Stock Scholar Club who facilitates the meetings and helps with recruitment of new students, and offering community service opportunities to other TSIC students. Yoendry is humble, hard-working and deserving of all of his successes.”
Ferro’s Take Stock mentor, Matt Johnson, said he told the young man constantly that it was difficult to mentor him. But it wasn’t because Ferro struggled or had problems.
“He was a better kid in high school than I ever was,” Johnson said. “Looking back, he’s tackled this time in his life very well and succeeded in a number of ways. On top of straight As, he sometimes worked two jobs, took part in sports and volunteered on weekends. That’s tough for any grown adult.”
Johnson said while the Keys are losing one of the best and brightest as he heads to college, Ferro will be an asset wherever he ends up for a career.
“Yoendry has a great group of friends and family, and all those things allowed him to succeed,” Johnson said. “He has a great work ethic and always drives to be the best.”
Ferro is co-captain of the lifting team, a member of Interact Club, Key Club, AVID and National Art Honor Society. Ferro’s balanced school life with a job at Key Largo Chocolates.
“It’s taught me a lot about time management, which I’ll need for college,” he said.
Having lived in the Keys since he arrived in the U.S., Ferro said he’s excited to experience a new area in Orlando. And he’s also ready to dedicate his time to his studies.
Ferro applied to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services at the beginning of the year. Two months later, he was scheduled for a civics test.
Passing the test, he went on to receive his citizenship diploma two weeks later in Miami.
“It just shows how far my family has come. It’s kind of like the home stretch in a way,” he said. “It lets us know we’re going in the right way. It’s opening doors of opportunities, so now I can vote. It’s now easier to travel.”
With U.S. citizenship and a high school diploma soon in hand, Ferro’s goals include pursuing a career, saving up to purchase a house and learning stocks and the economy.
His advice to Take Stock students? Ferro said use the success coach, mentors and all the resources the program provides for college and life choices.
KEY WEST HIGH SCHOOL
AMY GUZMAN
By Mandy Miles
Without a scholarship from Take Stock in Children, college would have been a real financial struggle for Amy Guzman and her family.
But Guzman, who graduates from Key West High School next week, has been planning since eighth grade to earn a college degree. She signed a contract that would make it possible, as long as she stayed in school, out of trouble and got decent grades. If she did all that, she’d get a scholarship to college.
Done and done.
Guzman is heading to Florida State University on June 20 with plans to major in biology.
“I want to be some kind of doctor,” she said last week in the courtyard of Key West High School while meeting with Samantha Farist, her Take Stock mentor. “I also got a Bright Futures scholarship and was accepted into the CARE program at FSU,” Guzman said.
CARE, the Center for Academic Retention & Enhancement at FSU, “provides equity and access to traditionally underrepresented students who are disadvantaged by virtue of educational and socioeconomic reasons,” the website states. The program provides new-student orientation, academic advising, financial aid advocacy and other services for minority and underprivileged students.
“My friends and I all wanted to go to the same school, so there’s a few of us going to FSU,” Guzman said. “The campus is so nice and everyone seemed really welcoming.”
While in middle school at Horace O’Bryant School, Guzman signed the Take Stock in Children scholarship contract to stay in school and out of trouble while maintaining a C average. She also started meeting weekly with Farist, who will remain with Guzman throughout her college career.
“We started meeting right away, once a week in the HOB library when she was in eighth grade,” said Farist, who works as human resources director for the City of Key West. “The mentors all get academic progress reports on their Take Stock students, so I knew her grades, her class schedule and any disciplinary issues. And through the year, we’ve talked about her classes, which ones were a struggle, her future goals, getting her driver’s license, opening a bank account, our pets and some current events.”
Farist beams with pride when she looks at Guzman in person, after a year of Zoom mentoring sessions due to COVID.
“It’s been so rewarding to watch how hard these kids work and then reap the rewards at the end,” Farist said.
MARATHON HIGH SCHOOL
SHAHED SHUVO
By Sara Matthis
“What I admire most about Shahed is his character,” said Take Stock in Children mentor Elliot Hart of Shahed Shuvo. Shuvo is a Marathon High School senior and TSIC scholarship recipient on his way to University of Central Florida to study computer engineering.
“Take Stock gives me an opportunity that I wouldn’t have otherwise,” said Shuvo. “And I would never have had the opportunity to tour the campuses like I did without this program.”
Shuvo will be the first in his family to attend college and the field of computer science isn’t all that familiar either, though he did have an uncle, now deceased, in Bangladesh who was involved in the industry. Shuvo has attended schools in the Middle Keys since kindergarten and entered the TSIC program before 9th grade.
Shuvo, in turn, says his mentor has been extremely helpful. “Elliot has experiences that I don’t have.”
The graduating senior is interested in the hardware aspect of computer engineering and how things go together. In fact, he built his own computer and said it will be the item from home he packs most carefully for his trip to Orlando.
“I bought the parts during Black Friday in 2020 and had the machine built by December,” he said. “It’s decent, but it needs a couple more things to be a great gaming machine.” Shuvo said he’s going to put his head down and work hard at school, but hopes to make time for an E-sports or robotics club.
Hart says Shuvo has a level head on his shoulders, “the kind of friend I needed as a kid. He tries hard, he’s engaged and a go-getter. I have complete confidence that he will excel and I’m excited to see what he’ll do in college and beyond.”
Although he’s pursuing a degree in computer science, his ultimate goal is a career in law enforcement. He participates in the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office Explorers program and Hart said Shuvo has already reached out to federal agencies about internship opportunities.
For his part, Hart said he joined Take Stock as a mentor soon after moving to the Keys to take a job with the state as a marine biologist. “It’s a chance to know and help someone in the community in a much more personal way than, say, a fundraising event,” he said. “And I think the program works because it pairs teenagers with an adult that is neither an authority figure nor someone that has expectations. I’m a compassionate ear, a sounding board.”
Shuvo is getting a head start on the next chapter of his life with the Take Stock in Children program and champing at the bit: He’s headed off to University of Central Florida as soon as possible, starting a summer term in late June
