Warren students will get Opportunity for money to attend elite colleges

Warren Township High School has become the newest partner with an organization that gives financial assistance to selected students who want to attend elite colleges they otherwise couldn't afford.

Gurnee-based Warren District 121 was named Tuesday as the Schuler Family Foundation's fourth high school partner in Lake County.

Jeff Brierton, principal at Warren's O'Plaine Road campus for freshmen and sophomores, said Schuler will have a work station in his building when the new academic year begins.

He said a foundation counselor will work exclusively with Warren's Schuler scholars.

Brierton said while it's an achievement for students to gain admission at state or other universities, Schuler provides a way for them to attend elite schools that can give them an edge over their peers in certain professions.

"I just think it's an exciting opportunity for these kids and it's going to affect some of these kids in very profound ways," said Brierton, who became familiar with Schuler when he was Round Lake High School's principal in 2006.

To qualify for the Schuler program, students must earn a minimum 3.0 grade-point average after their freshman year of high school and be involved in leadership or community service activities. They must have a personal development plan as sophomores and participate in a five-day leadership summer camp in Wisconsin.

Schuler, a nonprofit organization, provides $20,000 to qualifying students over four years to help pay their costs to attend private colleges with fewer than 10,000 undergraduates.

Moreover, the academic preparation facet has led to students receiving direct financial aid from colleges because of their high school achievements, Schuler Family Foundation Executive Director Candace Browdy said.

Jose Rodriguez of Gurnee, who has a sophomore son at Warren and a seventh-grade daughter in Woodland Elementary District, said the academic challenges Schuler provides to teens in high school -- such as an eight-week ACT/SAT training class as juniors -- are as valuable as the scholarship money.

Rodriguez also said students who don't come from privileged families and wind up attending prestigious colleges through the Schuler Family Foundation can serve as good examples for others in their communities. He was part of a District 121 group that recently met with Schuler representatives.

"I call it more of a program than a scholarship," Rodriguez said Tuesday.

Brown and Harvard universities in the Ivy League are among the schools attended by at least 68 students receiving assistance from Schuler.

Former Abbott Laboratories executive Jack Schuler started the foundation in 2001. It has a presence at Waukegan High School, Round Lake High School and St. Martin de Porres High School in Waukegan.

Schuler has been accepting 20 to 50 scholars annually.