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TAKE STOCK IN CHILDREN HOSTS COLLEGE KICKOFF Contact Name: Colleen Buchmeier Contact Email: colleen@takestocksarasota.org Contact Phone Number: 941-441-5746 TAKE STOCK IN CHILDREN HOSTS COLLEGE KICKOFF Sarasota, FL, August 17, 2022. Take Stock in Children of Sarasota County started the 2022-2023 school year with a college kickoff for the 105 seniors and their families at the New College campus on Saturday, August 13th from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. The event was sponsored by the First Horizon Bank Foundation to ensure students in their senior year of high school receive the college readiness program to transition their college dreams into reality. A New College tour was provided, where for many students due to the pandemic, it was their first experience on a college campus with the opportunity to see dormitories. Boxed lunches from the school cafeteria were included for all guests. Students were welcomed with a backpack filled with school supplies collected and donated from S-One Holdings. The Take Stock college coaches were on hand to provide the step by step process and critical timeline for college applications. Take Stock in Children Executive Director, Lisa Bechtold, commented, “Senior year is an exciting time for students; however, it can also be very stressful. We are here to reassure the students and their families that they have the support to complete their plans to attend college or technical school after high school, along with the scholarship promised when they were accepted into the Take Stock in Children program”. Take Stock in Children has a 27-year history of proven student success by providing scholarships, mentors, and college success coaching which includes one-to-one advising, college readiness workshops, ACT/SAT preparation, and financial aid assistance. Student support services continue after high school through postsecondary degree/certification attainment ensuring students are workforce ready. ### About Take Stock in Children of Sarasota County Take Stock in Children was founded in 1995 as a nonprofit organization by business and community leaders and built as a public-private partnership to break down barriers to opportunity and instill hope in economically disadvantaged youth. The Take Stock multiyear model benefits students by providing support services through a volunteer mentor, a college success coach, and college readiness workshops while mitigating financial barriers to higher education by providing a scholarship. Take Stock in Children helps students graduate from high school in strong academic standing and prepared for postsecondary success. Student support services continue from college acceptance through certification/degree attainment ensuring students are workforce ready. Today, Take Stock is known as one of the nation’s preeminent mentoring, college readiness, scholarship, college access and completion direct service organizations. For more information or to become a mentor, please visit takestocksarasota.org or call Director of Development, Diana Dill 941-504-0995.