Owens Community College and Lake Local Schools are continuing to expand their partnership to enhance student success with a new collaboration that will give all graduating Lake High School students in financial need the opportunity to pursue a free college education through Owens’ Success Program initiative.

The 2010 Lake High School graduating class will serve as the initial recipients of the program, which is designed to assist students who receive only partial federal financial aid in the form of a Pell Grant to attend college. The Success Program will bridge the gap between the federal grant aid a student receives and the cost of an Owens education.

“Owens Community College is proud to collaborate with Lake Local Schools and help their students realize their goals of a college education,” said Ann Savage, Owens Executive Director of College Development and the Owens Foundation. “The goal of the Success Program is to ensure that a college education is a viable and realistic option for all students throughout the region. Financial barriers should not be the reason that a student cannot attend college.

“Tornados may have destroyed Lake High School, but it did not destroy the will and determination of its staff and students,” Savage said.

“The Lake Local School District is appreciative of yet another gesture of neighborly support from the Owens Community College family,” said Jim Witt, superintendent of Lake Local Schools.

Earlier this month, Owens, in partnership with the Findlay-Hancock County Community Foundation, announced the expansion of the academic institution’s Success Program initiative to include students with financial need graduating from public schools in Hancock County.

Twenty-three high schools are now involved in the Owens Success Program. Two hundred forty-seven 2009 graduates from Whitmer High School, Findlay High School and all high schools within the Toledo Public Schools district in financial need are receiving a free college education to Owens as part of the College Foundation’s expanded Success Program. During the previous academic year, 87 Woodward and Findlay high school students chose to continue their education at Owens through the Success Program.

In order to be eligible, students must graduate from high school, be enrolled in 12 or more credit hours each semester at Owens and complete their Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to determine financial aid, and receive some federal Pell grant funding. Recipients must enroll at Owens during the first fall or spring semester following graduation and will have three years to complete their associate’s degree through the Success Program initiative.

In June, Owens and Lake Local Schools entered into a partnership that provides the school district with a temporary home for Lake High School staff and students as a result of their educational facilities being damaged or destroyed by the June 6 tornado.

More than 430 Lake High School students in grades 9-12 are attending school at the Owens Center for Development and Training building, which is located on Tracy Road in Northwood. The facility features 10 classrooms, three computer laboratories, 34 offices, two reception areas and 12 experiential learning laboratories. In an effort to accommodate Lake High School’s educational needs, Owens relocated academic courses housed within the Center for Development and Training building to other campus locations.

In addition to the temporary high school building location, Owens’ Student Health and Activities Center will serve as home court to the Lake Flyers boys and girls basketball teams.

For more information about the Success Program, call 567-661- 3515 or 1-800-GO-OWENS, ext. 3515.

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