STEP Asks For Your Help to Transform Young Lives

This letter was sent to Scarsdale10583 by the Board of the Scarsdale Student Transfer Education Plan (STEP)

Dear Friends: For over half a century, our community has had the distinct privilege of supporting the Scarsdale Student Transfer Education Plan (STEP). Founded by Eric Rothschild in 1966, STEP has brought a diverse group of promising young men and women -- who face limited opportunities in their hometowns -- to live and learn in Scarsdale.

Applicants to the program go through a rigorous interview and selection process, and those who are chosen reside with a local family and attend Scarsdale High School for their junior and senior years. The program's ultimate goal is to help these talented students apply to, and then attend, a college of their choice – complete with an excellent financial aid package. This program is funded entirely by donations from the Scarsdale community. And we need your help now.

How better to explain the worth of this extraordinary program, than by giving you a sense of the students themselves? Our current STEP students are Fredrik Smith Jr. (SHS '19 – from Memphis, TN) and Zaria Cash (SHS '18 – also from Memphis, TN).

Zaria is an active member of the cheerleading squad and in addition to her regular classes she is taking an independent study course in Forensic Science. She is currently applying to a variety of competitive colleges and we cannot wait to see where she ends up! Zaria hopes to study nursing and work in the health care industry.

Fred just arrived this year and served as the manager of the SHS varsity football team. He hopes to participate in wrestling, track and field and play on the varsity football team next year as a senior. Fred excels in math and wants to study engineering in college.

To give you an even better idea of how these worthy students benefit from the program, here's a quick overview of our two most recent STEP graduates:

Robert Lee (SHS '15) was beloved at Scarsdale High School. He was an active member of many community service clubs and was a representative for the Student Government. He is currently enrolled at Vanderbilt University on a full scholarship and he was the recipient of the prestigious Ingram Scholarship. He plans to study abroad in New Zealand in the spring.

DonTavius Holmes (SHS '16) embraced all that Scarsdale High School had to offer and played both football and basketball while a student. He participated in Northwestern University's Center for Talent Development Program in Civics education and is now in his sophomore year at Emory's Oxford University where he is studying Business.

These success stories would not be imaginable without you as we rely on the generous donations of the Scarsdale community to help change make these "transformations" possible. By contributing to our program, you invest in the future and directly – and dramatically -- impact these young students' ability to succeed. Your tax-deductible gift to STEP helps defray the cost of transportation and education-related expenses for students while they are in Scarsdale. It also helps us find and recruit promising future scholars.

Please, help us change the world for the better with a tax-deductible donation through the website www.scarsdalestep.org or send a check to: STEP, PO Box 278, Scarsdale, NY 10583.