Media release from Rome, GA City Schools:
Five Rome Middle School students posed for photos with families and friends on Tuesday afternoon at Rome High School’s College and Career Academy as the students celebrated signing commitments for a college scholarship.
The students and their parents signed the commitments signifying their enrollment in the Realizing Educational Achievement Can Happen (REACH) Georgia Scholarship program.
The students, Celeste Adair, Aleigha Adams, Lesly Gabriel Gonzalez, Jai’leal Hamilton, and Kayla Hartley, were all selected for the $10,000 REACH Georgia Scholarship. The scholarship is Georgia’s first need-based mentorship and college scholarship program.
The commitment signed by students and parents states that students will meet regularly with their academic coach and community mentor, keep their grades up, and refrain from truancy and disciplinary action. Students who complete the program requirements receive a $10,000 scholarship to be used towards the cost of attendance at one of 79 HOPE-eligible public and private colleges and universities in Georgia.
“We are very proud of these five students. They are all impressive young scholars, and we expect some great things from them in the years to come,” Jennifer Perkins, RCS REACH Coordinator and Director of Assessment, said. “This program is doing amazing things for our students and for Rome City Schools. We would like to thank Atrium Health Floyd, Communities In Schools, Oglethorpe Power, and the volunteer mentors for their commitment to the success of these students.”
This is the seventh cohort of REACH Scholars since Rome City Schools joined the program in 2019. The first REACH graduates completed the program in May 2024.
The REACH Georgia Scholarship is 90 percent funded by the state and 10 percent funded through private fundraising at the local level. Since the REACH program’s inception in 2012, more than 5,000 Georgia students have been identified as REACH Scholars and more than $50 million has been committed to their education.
Perkins serves as the REACH Coordinator on the Rome City Schools REACH Committee along with Rome Middle Assistant Principal Kristin Hall, Rome High Counselor Danielle Love, Rome Middle School Counselor Latronja Sockwell, RCS Early Learning Specialist Sabrina Teems, Communities In Schools RMS Site Coordinator, Conseulo Saxton, and Communities in Schools Executive Director Greg Wooten.