To Lisa Kaplan, it’s personal – she sees a lot of herself in these kids, so she reaches into her wallet to help.
Each year, the NUSD Trustee buys several Chromebook computers and awards them as scholarships to high school students who demonstrate a fierce will to succeed, no matter the odds.
This year, Kaplan selected Inderkum High School senior Christopher Brooks and freshman Tarmar Williams.
Kaplan held brief face-to-face meetings with each winner to present the Chromebooks along with a powerful personal message: I believe in you.
“You’re going to go far,” she told Christopher. “I just want you to believe it.”
Tarmar has a long road ahead at Inderkum, three more years, but Kaplan said she looks forward to being the Trustee to hand her a high school diploma.
Asked later how it felt to receive a Chromebook from Kaplan, Tarmar said simply: “Happy.”
“Honestly, it feels amazing that my hard work is finally paying off,” said Christopher, who plans to attend college next year at California Maritime Academy in Vallejo. He wants to be an NBA basketball player someday, then a businessman.
In awarding Chromebooks, Kaplan is not necessarily looking for the straight-A student with a long list of school honors who everyone recognizes as an academic star. She searches for the diamond in the rough, the teen who oozes potential but needs a helping hand.
The longtime NUSD Trustee awards Chromebook computers because she recognizes the importance of computer skills in preparing for college or career. This marks the third year that Kaplan has offered her “Closing the Digital Divide Scholarship” in partnership with the Natomas Schools Foundation.
In past years, students helped by Kaplan have included a 17-year-old whose father’s death made him a leader of the family; a teenager who left his mother behind in Ethiopia to seek a better life in the United States; and a young lady who sought the Chromebook to share with her brother and three sisters.
Applicants for Kaplan’s “Closing the Digital Divide” scholarship are evaluated on the basis of financial need, leadership potential, academic performance – minimum 2.5gpa – and courage in overcoming adversity.
Kaplan’s desire to help kids overcome difficulty stems partly from her childhood. Her parents were not college educated, but they told her that she could do whatever she wanted, as long as she worked hard and put her mind to it.
Kaplan ultimately graduated from law school and now owns her own law firm.
