Mayors Proclaim January FAFSA Memphis Month at Kick-off Event

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Jan. 6, 2015 - PRLog -- WHAT:
On Thursday, January 8, 2015, Leadership Memphis and the members of the Post-Secondary Access Collaborative Action Network (CAN) facilitated by Seeding Success will hold a press conference at City Hall to address the importance of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) completion for Shelby County and launch the city-wide FAFSA Memphis campaign. This is a focused and collaborative effort to increase the FAFSA completion rate to 80% to ensure the TN Promise completers meet the next scholarship threshold. Mayor A C Wharton will also present a proclamation designating January as “FASFA Memphis Month” for the City of Memphis.

WHO:
Mayor A C Wharton, City of Memphis
Mayor Mark Luttrell, Shelby County
Dorsey Hopson, Shelby County Schools Superintendent
David Williams, President & CEO of Leadership Memphis

Bernice Butler, Director of Memphis Talent Dividend and Graduate Memphis

Post-Secondary Access Collaborative Action Network (CAN) Members

·          Achievement School District

·          Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Memphis

·          BRIDGES USA Inc.

·          City of Memphis

·          Concorde Career College

·          Girls Incorporated of Memphis

·          Latino Memphis

·          Leadership Memphis

·          Metropolitan Inter-Faith Association (MIFA)

·          Shelby County Schools

·          Teach for America

·          TN Step

·          tnAchieves

WHEN:
January 8, 2015 at 3:00 p.m. (CST)
City Hall
Hall of Mayors
125 North Main Street, Memphis TN 38103

WHY:
83% of Shelby County Schools high school seniors completed the TN Promise Scholarship Application. Without a completed FAFSA by February 15, 2015, these students lose the scholarship opportunity forever. As a  leading indicator in education continuation after high school, FAFSA completion is a critical step in ensuring SCS achieves its 80/90/100 goals (http://www.scsk12.org/80-90-100/). A completed FAFSA provides access to need-based and merit based grants for so many to continue their education.  Groups of community stakeholders have joined with school counselors to host over 60 community events for high school students, parents, and adults returning to college to help them complete the FAFSA by February 15, 2015. This effort was generously funded by the Kresge Foundation in a recent two-year grant (http://memphistalentdividend.com/leadership-memphis-award...) to the Memphis Talent Dividend, an action initiative of Leadership Memphis.

* Immediately following Mayor A C Wharton’s proclamation of January as “FAFSA Completion Month” in Memphis, there will be time for media to ask questions about the FAFSA Memphis campaign from Memphis Talent Dividend Director, Bernice Butler.

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Leadership Memphis is a non-profit, community leadership development organization. Its mission is to prepare and mobilize leaders to work together for the good of the whole community. Founded in 1977 as The Memphis Institute of Public Responsibility, the organization has trained and graduated more than 2,500 leaders from its signature programs: Executive, FastTrack and Grassroots. Its Action Initiatives are Memphis Talent Dividend/Graduate Memphis,and SUCCESS High Schools.


For more information about the FAFSA Memphis campaign, visit www.fafsamemphis.com