PHS Receives Grant for Concurrent Students
A grant was recently awarded to Perry High School from the Malzahn Family Fund, an affiliated fund of the Oklahoma City Community Foundation.
The grant will be used to assist Perry High School students taking concurrent classes through Northern Oklahoma College. PHS currently has 25 seniors and 22 juniors enrolled in concurrent courses to earn college credit hours. These students pay an average of $195 in fees per class to the college institution. Books for each class are an additional cost of approximately $75 each.
Many students are interested in taking concurrent classes to prepare for college, but are faced with hefty out of pocket expenses. While PHS would love to aid students in covering the fees, there are just not the funds available to allocate for this purpose.
PHS senior Aubrey McVicker-Adkins has taken concurrent classes at NOC and initiated discussions with students, NOC representatives, and Mrs. Tiffany Nelson, the Perry High School counselor, to explore the idea of seeking out funding opportunities to help pay concurrent class fees and provide equal access to advanced curriculum for PHS students.
Over the summer, Aubrey worked with the Oklahoma City Community Foundation and completed the Malzahn Family Affiliated Fund grant application for consideration. The application outlined the current needs and requested funds to implement a scholarship program for PHS students who enroll in concurrent classes at NOC.
Mrs. Nelson and Aubrey were notified on August 7 that PHS was awarded a grant in the amount of $63,396 for their scholarship program. Any Perry High School student enrolled in concurrent classes this school year at NOC will benefit.
"I am excited that everyone will have the opportunity to take concurrent classes," says Aubrey. “It's an important step in getting ready for college."
Mrs. Nelson added, “This is a huge relief for our high school students. The Malzahn family is a blessing to this community in so many ways and we are grateful to serve families in this capacity.”